Rock Rescue Nature Sensory Bin

With winter here, and normal outdoor treasures hidden, my guy is seriously having withdrawls!

I actually came up with this one by accident – I was working on making a cute glowing campfire craft for our upcoming “camp day” inside, and got down our cup of “special rocks”.

We pick up cool looking rocks here and there (spotted ones, funny shapes ones) and since I was making a campfire, I thought a cute rock ring would be perfect!

Anyways, I left those rocks out and my preschooler saw them and was beyond excited… about rocks!

He said he wanted to wash them, and when I showed him how different they look in the water, he was even more excited to clean them!

In fact, he actually sat in one place for over half an hour! WOOAHH!

If you’re a parent of a small child, you’ll know how cherished the times are when they actually sit and do the same activity for longer than 5 minutes!

I love this rock play because it’s a great sensory activity, and also because it’s cheap!!

If you don’t have rocks, you could pick up a small bag of river rocks from the local craft store (I know not everyone collects rocks just for fun!

Here’s how to make your easy rock sensory bin!

Items needed for this fun rock activity!

• Rocks of different shapes and sizes
• Bin for water
• Rag to set cleaned rocks on
• OPTIONAL (but ups the fun alot!) – An old or spare toothbrush for scrubbing
• OPTIONAL – Sand or dirt to start the rocks in, and make them “dirty”

When we first did this rock activity, the rocks weren’t even in sand! To my kid, they were “dirty” because when they were dry, they were not as vibrant…

So if you don’t have sand or just want less of a mess, I’m sure your toddler or preschooler will love to clean the rocks just as much without it!

After all, it’s pretty cool to see the true colors of the rocks!

Directions to faciliate rock cleaning fun!

Guys, the beauty of this is it’s so easy!

I would normally make a bulleted list, but this fun open ended sensory activity can be summed up in a sentence!

Set out some rocks, a sturdy container of water, and let them clean the rocks off with their toothbrush!

Make sure to point out cool details of the rocks as well as textures!

Check out these other fun preschooler crafts and activities!

• A fun valentine dinosaur themed activity pack (but it could be used all year it’s so cute!) that includes cutting, tracing, matching and shape recognition practice!
• Another nature themed sensory craft that’s perfect for summer – sensory soup! This includes 4 free printable PDF “recipe cards” to get the creative juices flowing!
• A fun preschool name practice activity that is similar to this one – a name treasure hunt!
• If you have a toddler or preschooler, you are probably familiar with tantrums – learn how to manage tantrums while remaining calm and gentle!
• Too many toys and they just get dumped? Check out how I got rid of literally 95% of my kids toys… and they actually played with them more!
• A cute campfire craft that is cheap and easy… and actually glows! (Yes, this is the one I mentioned earlier!)

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Stacy Bressler

Stacy Bressler is an avid outdoorswoman, wife, and mother of three who lives in Jackson, Wyoming. She loves all things camping and enjoys sharing helpful tips, fun activities and laughable learning experiences she finds along the way! Navigating the outdoor life through the lens of humor and positivity, she chronicles it all on her website "The Crazy Outdoor Mama"

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