Fountains in the Way

My toddlers second birthday came in the middle of our time in our apartment. I thought we were drowning in toys at the time (with a toy rotation system in place). Turns out, we just didn’t have an organization system, and we’re living in a small space. I was wracking my brain trying to think of something that would help spark independent and imaginative play in my toddler. Sensory bins sounded too messy, but the muffler of winter in Oregon makes it really for outside play (especially in an apartment). I realized I could do kinetic sand (way harder to make a mess) and some construction vehicles. In the other bin, I put dried beans and macaroni noodles, which was definitely messier, but wow did he love it!

Watching my toddler thrive without a yard, without many toys, and in a different way of life than most of my friends and their kids, reshaped my view on what kids needed. It brought forth a sense of pride in both myself as a parent, but also in him as he hopefully learned and gained resilience.

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Kinetic sand can be found in 3 lb, and 11 lbs bags. I recommend the natural sand, as it is significantly easier to clean up and reuse than the colored, more fine, sand.

I used containers like these, but also think smaller bins, as long as they are flat, would work great as well! And it would be possible to get more bins for different sensory items

I found beans and noodles at target for a few dollars, but eventually replaced them with colorful Pom poms, which were also a huge hit!

My favorite part of these sensory bins are these constructions vehicles:

They come in a little wooden box, and were easy for little hands to fill, scoop, and dump the kinetic sand. My toddler has spent HOURS digging and scooping the sand.

We had a great time with these simple sensory bins. I was overwhelming myself with the idea of trying to do it for years, but found, that simpler really is better. I also have found these to be long lasting and minimize waste compared to if I had gone to the dollar tree and just gotten what I could find there.