I love the book Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. This simple book introduces children to the color green in a beautiful way. The die cut pages offer a clue of what’s to come on the next page, which builds excitement and anticipation as you turn each page. The beautifully illustrated pages use different shades of green and invite the reader to spend time examining each page carefully. This the perfect book to read aloud to preschoolers and to explore color.

Green Sensory Bin

After reading this book aloud, talk with your preschoolers about the color green. A fun way to do this is with a sensory bin. A sensory bin is a container with material inside for the child to touch, feel, and play with while engaging the senses. Most of the time, sensory bins focus on the sense of touch and sight. This sensory bin to accompany the book Green focuses on the color green and engaging the sense of touch, sight, and sound.

Here’s what you’ll need to create this bin:

• sensory filler (such as green rice, dried split peas, green pasta, etc.
• green items (such as plastic animals, toys, feathers, plastic eggs, small bells, etc.)
• items to play with (such as scoops, funnels, measuring cups, etc.)

To color a sensory filler, such as rice or pasta, follow these instructions:

1. Pour the rice or pasta into a gallon-size Ziploc bag.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of rubbing alcohol to the bag. Seal the bag and shake it until they are all coated with it.
3. Drop in green food coloring. Seal the bag and shake it. Let it sit for a couple of minutes.
4. Lay the rice onto a baking sheet lined with wax paper.
5. Allow the rice to dry.

Sensory Play

After you create your bin filler, invite your preschoolers to help you find green objects to put inside. These objects can be everyday items you have on hand around your classroom or home.

Invite your kids to explore the bin and the materials inside. There’s no right way to play with a sensory bin. Just invite the kids to explore the contents and find ways to play with the bin. Encourage discussion about all the items inside the bin and talk about other things in the world around us that are green. Use some of the green words from the book to describe the colors.

My kids enjoyed this bin so much! They kept busy by filling up a large hourglass, scooping rice into the plastic eggs and shaking them, using their imagination to play with the creatures, shaking the bells, and more!

I love using sensory bins with children. Sensory play can calm children who may be anxious or frustrated and it supports language development, cognitive growth, fine & gross motor skills, problem solving, and social interaction. Children have the freedom to be creative and explore with sensory bins.

This is a great companion activity to go along with the book Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. You can add so many different green objects, and it’s a fun way to discuss the green things we see in the world around us every day.

I hope your preschoolers will enjoy this bin as much as my children did!

BIO: Angela is the writer and creator at Teaching Mama, where she shares hands-on learning activities for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. She is a former teacher, turned stay-at-home-mom to 3 wonderful boys. She is also the author of The Toddler Journey and The Preschool Journey. You can connect with her on Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

More Sensory Bin Ideas

Follow my Colors Pinterest Board for more great ideas!