Washing Dishes Sensory Bin Idea

Sensory bins are great activities for toddlers and preschoolers. They love to get their little hands into things.

Here is a washing dishes sensory bin idea that we tried out recently. My 3-year-old LOVED it.

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What are the basic supplies you need for a sensory bin?

To make a sensory bin, you just need a few things.

• A bin or container of some sort
• A filler
• Some objects to play with in the bin

If you’ve never made a sensory bin before, this is a good one to start with because you most likely already have everything you need to make it.

Filler is usually the hardest part to figure out or find. Filler can be things like dried pasta, water beads, pom poms, oats, rocks, sand, and dirt are all ideas I’ve seen.

But water is probably the easiest to get because it comes right out of your sink.

What kind of bin works best for this activity?

We used an under the bed storage bin for the base.

I opted to just put water in bins that came from her toy storage unit. That way if she got any water outside of them, it’d just be in the larger bin.

But if you want to fill the entire storage bin with water, you totally can.

I wouldn’t use anything with walls that are too high. We tried using a taller storage bin once with water beads and her little arms couldn’t really reach the bottom.

I highly recommend getting this toy shelf if you need to store toys because they’re also the perfect size for sensory bins.

How to set up the washing dishes sensory bin

First, you need to set a beach towel down on your floor. You have a kid, they’re going to get water outside of the bin. It’s inevitable.

Then put down the storage bin. I filled up the two smaller bins at the sink and just set them in it.

If you want to fill up the whole storage bin, you might want to use a smaller container to fill at the sink and dump it in. It’d be pretty hard to fill a giant box at your counter and then move it.

I put some dish soap in the green bin and let her stir it up to make soapy water.

Add in some dishes to wash and a scrub brush. We have these toddler dishes from IKEA and they’re really nice for playing with too.

Tips to make the most of this water sensory bin idea

Use a variety of dishes. I put in plates and bowls today, but next time I’ll add some of her cups and utensils.

Add in a brush and large spoons. I gave her one of the scrub brushes I hadn’t used yet. And she loves to use the ladle when she plays with water. She also went to the drawer to get another large cooking spoon.

Use warm and cool water. I filled the green bin with warm water and the blue bin with cool water. It’s just an added sensory element. She noticed immediately that the temperatures were different.

Explain how adults wash dishes. It’s never too early to learn how to wash with soapy water then rinse with clean water and dry.

Let them explore how they want. The whole point of a sensory bin is to be open ended play. She wanted to dump the little bin out into the big bin and walk around in it. Whatever floats your boat, kid.

Be prepared for splashing. It’s going to happen. That’s why we did it in the kitchen and had extra towels on hand. We also talked about keeping the water and everything inside the box.

Put your child in clothes that can get wet. You’ll probably want to change your toddler or preschooler after they’re done playing.

Have you tried a water sensory bin?

Let me know in the comments below!

My preschooler loves to “help” me do dishes but she always gets water everywhere when she gets up into the sink. This is a great way to bring the sink down to your kid’s level.

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