Winter is almost here, which means it’s time to cosy up! Why not try some themed play with this cosy hot chocolate sensory bin?
This activity is ideal for preschoolers as part of a dramatic play activity. It’s a fun way to practise speech and language, as well as early writing skills such as mark making.
Play is also a fantastic way for young children to make sense of the seasons. They can role play typical seasonal activities – such as making this hot chocolate sensory bin.
How to Make Hot Chocolate Sensory Bin
This hot chocolate sensory bin is so easy to set up. I recommend that you use materials that you already have at home rather than go out and buy new items especially for play.
Suggested Resources:
- Flisat table / plastic container
- Takeaway coffee cups / plastic cups
- mini marshmallows*
- cocoa pops**
- tongs
- scoops
- kitchen utensils
* Use marshmallows under supervision. We used mini marshmallows as the larger variety can cause a choking hazard.
** Save the cocoa pops and reuse for other play activities in a resealable sandwich bag.
If you are uncomfortable using food for play, try brown and white pompoms instead.
Method:
This hot chocolate sensory bin really couldn’t be simpler to make – the key is in the presentation!
If you have a Flisat table, separate out the cocoa pops, cups and tongs into separate trofast containers so that your child can see what is on offer.
Encourage them to use the tongs to scoop up the marshmallows – this is great for fine motor skills!
Extension
To make this hot chocolate sensory bin appealing to older children, add a mini chalkboard and chalk (or other writing materials). Invite them to take orders from customers. Don’t worry about the writing being perfect – or even legible – what matters is the intention behind the mark making.
Age Recommendations
Due to the small items used in this hot chocolate sensory bin, I recommend it for children aged 4 and above.
Always keep your child under close supervision when doing play activities and use your best judgement on what materials to use.
Educational Benefits
Here are some of the reasons why you should make this hot chocolate sensory bin with your preschoolers.
Fine motor skills – using spoons, scoops and tongs
Making connections to the world – re-enacting familiar winter traditions
Crossing the midline – where the dominant hand crosses to the other side of the body
Speech and language – taking orders, role playing the barista / customer
Pre-writing – writing down orders
Dealing with mess
Yes, this hot chocolate sensory play can get messy but the more you expose your child to these activities, the easier it will become over time. I’ve been doing these activities with my children every week since they were tiny. I can now keep a sensory activity out all day (or even all week) and not have to worry about the play space descending into chaos – yes, really!
When you are first getting started with sensory play, it’s about practice. Sit with your child and model how to play and how to tidy up afterwards.
When it comes to mess during play, use your best judgement. There’s a difference between sensory resources getting on the carpet because of developing fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination and flinging it through the air or at a sibling!
On occasions, your child will try to test the boundaries around the amount of mess they can make during sensory play – this is entirely normal. Here are some example phrases to try when that does happen:
First remind your child of the boundaries: Remember we talked about keeping the pumpkin gloop in the tray? You forgot whilst you were having fun – that’s okay as you are still learning how to play with the hot chocolate sensory bin but now I’m reminding you.
If your child still continues to make a mess: It looks like you are having a hard time keeping the cocoa pops in the tray, let’s put away the tray and we can try again tomorrow – and yes, do follow through with this!
Remember, these phrases are for when your child is making a purposeful mess rather than making a mess due to those developing motor skills. However in both instances, the more exposure they have to sensory play the less messy they will become. This is always worth keeping in mind!
More Sensory Play Activities
If you enjoyed this blog post on how to create a hot chocolate sensory bin, you might also enjoy some of our other sensory play ideas too:
20 Simple Toddler Play Ideas for the IKEA Flisat Table
5 Benefits of Sensory Play + How to Get Started
10 sensory play ideas for Autumn
How to make Lavender sensory rice
How to make apple playdough + 15 ideas to try
Do you need more help with sensory play?
Sensory play is more than just the activity itself. If you are worried about starting sensory play (or you hate it), I have just the course for you!
Head on over to my membership, ‘How I drink my Coffee Hot’, to access the mini course ‘Starting Sensory Play’.
Topics covered include:
- The importance of Sensory Play
- How to plan and prepare for sensory play
- Do you need to use food in sensory play?
- Essential sensory play resources
- Simple Sensory play activities + 80 page guide
