Dinosaur Sensory Bin

This month’s theme for the Poppins Book Nook is dinosaurs and other prehistoric life. Earlier this month I shared some amazing dinosaur small worlds and sensory bins that inspired us to create our own dinosaur sensory bin to go along with all of the great dinosaur books we were reading this month.

FIND EVEN MORE DINOSAUR THEME ACTIVITIES IN OUR PRINTABLE LESSON PLANS

FOR HOME PRESCHOOL AND PRESCHOOL CLASSROOMS.

We used our Step2 Water Table to house this bin. It worked out well that there are three main areas. Each area was filled with a different sensory material that the kids could explore in different ways.

Sensory Bin Contents

• Sand
• Dry pinto beans
• Glass beads: blue, tan, and gold
• Small pebbles, rocks, and a handful of shells
• Reindeer moss from the floral section in the craft store
• Safari LTD Dino Babies Toob
• Larger dinosaur figures (added after picture above)
• Safari LTD Trees Toob
• Small eggs

This was a fun bin for all of the kids. The big kids liked acting out different play scenes, and the toddlers had a lot of fun playing with the sand, beans, and glass beads.

One of my favorite things about using sensory bins and small worlds to go along with our reading themes is the opportunity for the kids to use new vocabulary. As we read new stories and learned new words related to dinosaurs, I was able to hear a lot of the words being used by the children in their pretend play.

This collage includes some of the kids’ favorites activities with this dinosaur bin.

Top Left: All of the kids were fascinated by the “dinosaur” eggs.

Top Right: After we found some larger dinosaurs to add to our bin, I was a little alarmed to see this scene. But after listening for a minute, I realized that the big dinosaurs were the mommies carrying their babies around (not eating them like I first assumed).

Bottom Left: Little Buddy spent most of his playtime using the shell to scoop and pour the beans and sand.

Bottom Right: After we learned about dinosaurs being extinct and buried under the Earth’s surface, the kids kept burying all of the dinosaurs and taking turns excavating them.

Overall we had a lot of fun with this small world, and we were a bit sad to put it away in order to make room for our new ocean sensory bin.

Book Ideas

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There are so many great dinosaur books to read that I couldn’t help but include many book ideas for this theme. We had a lot of fun reading about dinosaurs throughout the month.  Our dinosaur sensory bin was a wonderful way to encourage the kids to use some of the new vocabulary we were learning and act out some of the elements of the stories.

One of Lovey’s favorite books was definitely Brontorina. This is a book we will soon be adding to our personal collection. If you’ve been reading this blog regularly, you know I love stories with a good message. This is certainly one of those stories! Brontorina is a dinosaur who longs to be a ballerina. She’s faced with so many challenges, but she knows deep in her heart she was meant to dance. Throughout the story kids learn that a little determination, hard work, and creative thinking can help you reach your dreams. Love this book!

Dinosaur Pet is another book we enjoyed this month. It’s inspired by the song “Calendar Girl,” and the CD is included with the book. The song takes us through the months of the year as we learn about a little boy’s dinosaur pet. The silly illustrations had the kids laughing as they danced along to the song every time.

Here’s are some of the other dinosaur books we enjoyed reading this month.

Fiction Dinosaur Books

Nonfiction Dinosaur Books

MORE DINOSAUR FUN WITH PRINTABLE DINOSAUR THEME LESSON PLANS

Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.

The full Dinosaur Theme Lesson Plan Pack also includes:

1) Dinosaur Cards for sorting by color, making patterns and more
2) Counting Dinosaur Eggs Activity (1-10) in color and B/W
3) Count the Dinosaurs Emergent Reade (3 variations)
4) Dinosaur Roll and Graph Game in color and B/W
5) Dinosaur Skeleton Activity Mats
6) Dinosaur Word Cards
7) Beginning Sound Dinosaur Sort (D, I, N, O)
8) Dinosaur Number Cards (0-35) in color and B/W
9) Alphabet Train Dinosaur Matching Upper and Lowercase Letters
10) Rhyming Dinosaur Eggs

GET YOUR LESSON PLANS

Home Preschool Dinosaur Theme Lesson Plans

Preschool Classroom Dinosaur Theme Lesson Plans

Also available on Teachers Pay Teachers.