A dinosaur sensory bin is great for a dinosaur theme, fossil theme, oviparous animals theme, or just plain fun. And this one is simple to prepare with a scavenger hunt and free printable dinosaur fact cards for lots of fun and learning!
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DIY Sensory Table
I love the DIY sensory tables my daughter-in-law, Chea, and I put together in September 2015!
To put together the DIY sensory table, we used the directions for “The $30, 30-Minute, Do-It-Yourself Sensory Table” from A Teaching Mommy. Ours cost a bit more than $30, although the price will vary according to where you get PVC pipe. We were able to get our PVC pipe at Lowe’s. We didn’t want to cut pipe and were lucky that the guys at Lowe’s were willing to cut it for us.
I found the specified storage container for the sensory tables at Walmart.
The sensory table is designed to be disassembled. We found it best to hammer the pieces together after assembling the table to avoid having the table collapse. So ours are more permanent, which is fine. I like to have a sensory table available at all times on my balcony or next to my balcony door. My grandkids are absolutely in love with sensory bins/tables!
Note: Thank you to my daughter, Chrissy Chitwood, for making and editing our videos for Instagram and YouTube!
Materials Used for the Simple Dinosaur Sensory Bin with Dinosaur Eggs Scavenger Hunt
Dinosaur Sensory Bin with Hidden Dinosaur Eggs and Dinosaur Fact Cards
I had purchased the dinosaurs when my grandkids were toddlers, so I have large ones from Schleich that are perfect for toddlers on up. There are many options and prices of dinosaurs you can use.
- DIY sensory table or water table (While I love using this as a table, you can just use the container on the floor.)
- Shredded paper grass (You can shred your own or purchase shredded green paper. I recommend paper grass that isn’t crinkle cut. This is also the grass I like to use for Easter baskets and any sensory bin where I can use grass. Normally I wouldn’t add this much grass to a sensory bin, but I needed enough grass to cover the dinosaur eggs.)
- Dinosaur eggs (Mine are Safari Ltd. dinosaur eggs, but they don’t seem to be available any longer. There are a number of other types to choose from, though.)
- Parent dinosaurs (Mine are Schleich dinosaurs, but there are many types and prices of dinosaurs available.)
- You could put the dinosaurs, dinosaur eggs, and dinosaur fact cards on any type of table. I used a sofa snack table I have for my laptop. I can easily carry it indoors or outdoors for activities.
- Free dinosaur fact cards from Research Parent. (I love these because they have a silhouette of a man, showing how tall the dinosaur is in relation to a person; they tell the dinosaur’s nickname; they tell if the dinosaur is a carnivore or herbivore; they tell the continent where the dinosaur lived; they tell the time period when the dinosaur lived; and they have more interesting facts about each dinosaur.)
Feel free to adapt your sensory bin for your family. You can make your dinosaur habitat as elaborate as you want. These are just the materials I used for a simple but fun sensory bin.
Activity Steps
Before we started, I showed my 4-year-old grandkids, Sophia and Caleb, the adult dinosaurs and reviewed the name of each. I told them they would find baby dinosaurs in eggs in the sensory bin and cards with facts about the dinosaurs. I told them to look for the man on each card to see how tiny a person would be compared to a dinosaur. And I told them that no people lived at the time of dinosaurs!
Cousins Finding Dinosaur Eggs in Dinosaur Sensory Bin
Sophia and Caleb had lots of fun finding and opening the dinosaur eggs!
Having Fun with Dinosaur Fact Cards Showing the Size of Dinosaurs Compared to a Man
And they loved seeing how tiny people would be compared to each dinosaur! (Later, I showed them some of the other dinosaur cards, and they saw that some dinosaurs were actually smaller than people!)
Identifying Types of Dinosaurs
After they matched each baby dinosaur with the adult and its fact card, they named the dinosaurs. I told them that these four types of dinosaurs wouldn’t have lived at the same time. Stegosaurus and brachiosaurus are from the late Jurrasic Period and Tyrannosaurus rex and triceratops are from the late Cretaceous Period.
Caleb and Sophia both loved the activity! They had so much fun that my 8-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, wanted to do the activity, too. We set up the dinosaur sensory bin again, and Zoey spent a good amount of time with it. Later, I showed her where the dinosaurs would have lived according to the Clock of Eras.
On other days, they took turns hiding dinosaurs around the room and having the other two find them!
General Fossil and Dinosaur Resources
Free Fossil Printables and Montessori-Inspired Fossil Activities
Free Fossils and Imprint Do-a-Dot Printable (Montessori-Inspired Phonics Instant Download)
Free Paleontology Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Dinosaur Discovery Activities from Montessori By Mom
- Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Unit
- Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Fun with Printables, Water Beads, and Glass Gems
- Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Activities Using Dinosaur Replicas
- Make Fossils from Montessori at Home!
- Free Dinosaur Printables and Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Math Activities
- Dinosaur Ice Melt Science Experiment for Toddlers and Preschoolers
- Free Dinosaur Printables and Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Language Activities
- Free Dinosaur Do-a-Dot Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Free Dinosaur Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Free Paleontology Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- I Have, Who Has? Dinosaur Game
- Free Oviparous Animal Printables and Montessori-Inspired Oviparous Animal Activities
- Dinosaur Unit Study Pinterest Board
Learn more about my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to. Teach Grace and Courtesy!
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