Red, White and Blue Water Sensory Bin

Baby N loves water! Baths, sensory activities, doesn’t matter – he even has fun drinking it!

This time, I set up a simple Red, White and Blue Water Sensory Bin for him – perfect for the 4th of July or other patriotic holidays, to talk about colors, or just because splashing, pool noodles and funnels are fun 😉

(N was 10 months old.)

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Materials for Red, White and Blue Water Sensory Bin

• Red and blue pool noodles.
• White funnels.
• Water.
• Sensory bin.
• Sharp knife.

My thought process with this activity was: “N loves water, I want to make him a water sensory bin. Oh, I know, I’ll cut up some pool noodles to put in the water! Hmmm, I have a red pool noodle and a blue one… The 4th of July is coming up soon – I should add something white! What do I have that’s white and baby-safe?”

I couldn’t really think of anything until I walked past the white funnels N had pulled out of the kitchen cabinet earlier that day. They seemed perfect for both the color scheme and for water play in general!

I used a big, sharp knife to cut the pool noodles into slices that were not too thin {so N couldn’t easily take a bite out of them} and not too thick {so they were easy for N to grab and hold}.

I placed red and blue pool noodle slices into a sensory bin with water and added the white funnels before setting it down for N on the patio.

He was very interested and started exploring.

I probably could have made the pool noodle slices slightly smaller but he managed. When he couldn’t get a good grip with one hand, he used both hands

or pushed it up against the side of the sensory bin.

The hole in the middle was helpful, too – and it added another sensory experience.

Only while N was playing did I finally realize that the funnels were actually beyond perfect for the pool noodles!

I showed him how to use the funnels to let the pool noodles dance in a stream of water

but he just cared about the stream of water 😉

We passed the pool noodles back and forth over and over again – one of N’s favorite games!

Huh, why is there no water coming out?!

Another great use for a funnel: Hold it up to your mouth and make funny sounds 🙂

Interestingly, there was very little splashing this time around – usually his favorite thing to do with water. Of course, he was busy exploring so many new things!

Does your baby or older child enjoy water play? Has she explored funnels? Leave a comment below!

 

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