Christmas Tree Sensory Bin

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A fun Christmas sensory bin for kids, this Christmas Tree Sensory Bin is a great way to let kids explore all of their favorite parts of the Christmas tree – without destroying your immaculately decorated tree or putting your special ornaments at risk.

A fun Christmas sensory bin for kids to explore instead of destroying the Christmas tree! This Christmas Tree Sensory Bin has all of their favorite aspects of the Christmas tree in a safe, structured sensory bin that allows them to learn while they play

Christmas Tree Sensory Bin for Kids

Are your kids obsessed with the Christmas tree and all of the fun decorations that pop up around the house during the holidays?

My daycare kids cannot keep their hands off of our Christmas tree. I’ve had to remove all of the breakable and special ornaments in order to let them explore, but I’m still a bit worried that they are going to pull over the tree in their enthusiasm – and let’s be honest, my tree is looking a bit sad every day with half of the ornaments torn off.

As a fun compromise, I thought I’d try my hand at making a Christmas Tree Sensory Bin for them to explore without limitations.

This sensory bin incorporates all of the fun shapes, textures and shiny objects that my kids love about the Christmas tree, in a safe, structured way.

I just used a cheap fir garland as the base and then incorporate a variety of Christmas decor supplies that we found at the Dollar Tree, along with a new package of large jingle bells. While all of my kids are past the mouthing phase, I feel safer providing these bigger ones – plus they also give off a great ringing sound.

You could also incorporate some battery-powered Christmas lights, but you would have to pay close attention to ensure the kids don’t manage to open the battery pack if you do add that in. 

Sensory bins like ours are more than just fun – they stimulates the senses and encourage kids to develop a variety of different skills:

  • hand strength and fine motor skills
  • scientific concepts like observing, experimenting and noticing changes in different materials
  • language building by using descriptive words to describe the different components of the sensory bin
  • social and emotional development in playing cooperatively with others
  • math concepts like contrast and comparison

Materials for a Christmas Tree Sensory Bin

Tip: if you decide to add Christmas lights, be sure to do it only when you’re able to closely supervise to prevent kids from gaining access to the batteries.

How to Make a Christmas Tree Sensory Bin

Place the fir garland in a large tote bin or punch bowl. Tuck the other elements of the sensory bin throughout the fir, to give the kids fun things to discover as they dig into the sensory bin.

Ensure that the sensory bin is visually attractive for the kids to get excited to explore.

Place the sensory bin out for the kids and outline any rules that you may have for it. 

Personally, I don’t mind if elements of the sensory bin are removed from the bin and played with in different ways, but we do have a rule about putting everything back in the bin when we’re done. We also have a rule about no throwing in the house, so I didn’t have to worry about flying ornaments and jingle bells.

As the kids explore the sensory bin, engage them in conversation based on what you’re seeing them explore. For example:

  • Do the big jingle bells make the same sound as the small jingle bells?
  • Is the green garland rough on your hands? Do you like how the flowers feel softer on your hands?
  • Have you found all of the red ornaments? How many did you find?

My kids had so much fun making “wreaths,” creating music with the jingle bells, trying to roll the ornaments, trying to rip up the garland, etc.

Watching how they chose to play with our open-ended sensory bin gave me lots of great ideas for other things to do with those materials throughout the rest of the holiday season. For example, we’re going to do a painting project by dipping the ornaments and jingle bells in paint and rolling them in a cake pan over a sheet of paper.

 

Pin this Christmas Tree Sensory Bin for the Kids to Explore this Christmas Season:

How to make a Christmas Tree Sensory Bin your kids will love! The perfect solution for when kids are constantly playing with the Christmas tree and you're worried about ornaments breaking, this sensory bin allows them to explore to their heart's content while learning, too!

Grab your free printable instructions for how to make and explore our Christmas tree sensory bin:

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Yield: 1 sensory bin

Christmas Tree Sensory Bin

Christmas Tree Sensory Bin

A fun Christmas sensory bin for kids to explore instead of destroying the Christmas tree! This Christmas Tree Sensory Bin has all of their favorite aspects of the Christmas tree in a safe, structured sensory bin that allows them to learn while they play

Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Difficulty Easy
Estimated Cost $5

Materials

  • Fir Garland
  • Large Jingle Bells
  • Artificial Poinsettia Flowers
  • Large Bulb Ornaments
  • Holly Sprigs
  • Glittery Star Ornament

Tools

  • Sensory Bin

Instructions

How to Make a Christmas Tree Sensory Bin

Place the fir garland in a large tote bin or punch bowl. Tuck the other elements of the sensory bin throughout the fir, to give the kids fun things to discover as they dig into the sensory bin.

Ensure that the sensory bin is visually attractive for the kids to get excited to explore.

How to Play with a Christmas Tree Sensory Bin

Place the sensory bin out for the kids and outline any rules that you may have for it. 

Personally, I don't mind if elements of the sensory bin are removed from the bin and played with in different ways, but we do have a rule about putting everything back in the bin when we're done. We also have a rule about no throwing in the house, so I didn't have to worry about flying ornaments and jingle bells.

As the kids explore the sensory bin, engage them in conversation based on what you're seeing them explore. For example:

  1. Do the big jingle bells make the same sound as the small jingle bells?
  2. Is the green garland rough on your hands? Do you like how the flowers feel softer on your hands?
  3. Have you found all of the red ornaments? How many did you find?

Pin this Project for Later

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

 

I hope your kids love getting to explore their own Christmas Tree Sensory Bin – and you appreciate not having to redecorate your tree every day!

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