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Spooky Sensory Bins: Eyeball Soup
- Learning Resources Posted On Oct 13, 2021 | 2-4 Years Motor Skills
We’ve got another great sensory bin to share, which is ideal for Halloween. Both my kids always love making sensory soup, but when Halloween rolls around, they always ask to make ‘eyeball soup.’ Thankfully they have yet to ask me to taste test their culinary creations!
What you need:
- Learning Resources® Sand & Water Fine Motor Tool Set
- Water (we added a few drops of red food coloring for added dramatic effect!)
- Container (wash bins from Dollar Tree are the perfect size)
- Plastic eyeballs (we got ours at Dollar Tree)
- Mini cauldrons (ours are from Party City)
The Set-up
Half-fill your container with water and add a few drops of food coloring if you want to add an extra sensory element to the play. Sprinkle in some eyeballs, then place the mini cauldrons on top of the water. All four of the Sand & Water Fine Motor Tools are great for this water-based sensory bin, so I put all of them out with the set-up.
Anyone for Eyeball Soup?
My preschooler was beyond excited with this sensory bin. She always enjoys making pretend soup but having eyeballs as a topping was a bonus. She started off using the scooper to pick up and drop the eyeballs into the water. She liked watching the water trickle through the gap in the middle of the scooper, which was great for her fine motor skills. She would try and catch the eyeballs and then tip them into the mini cauldrons as well.
The large squeezy bottle was another favorite. It allows the child to suck up a decent amount of water which was perfect for her to then be able to fill the mini cauldrons with her ‘soup.' I like how this particular squeezy bottle challenges the child to use their hand muscles when filling it up and emptying it as well.
The wavy dropper is another great way to transfer water, but this one enables smaller amounts of water to be moved with more precision. My four-year-old enjoyed using the wavy dropper as a means of cleaning the eyeballs before she put them into her mini cauldrons full of soup.
I thought it was really neat how my four-year-old decided to use the spinner tool as her ‘soup mixer.' She placed it in the water and rotated the handle round and round. She could see the water swirling and liked that it helped to mix the colored water into just the right tasting flavor of red soup.
Extending the Play
The independent sensory exploration continued for over half an hour. So much scooping, spinning, and squeezing to make her eyeball soup just the way she wanted it. With a sensory bin like this, extending the play and creating a role-play element to the activity is always fun. My little one wanted to open her very own spooky soup shop, which I thought was a great idea. I ordered several portions of soup which she served up in the mini cauldrons. She then had to decide how much to charge for each portion. The eyeballs were $5 extra…each!
Water-based sensory play is open-ended and affordable. Adding some fine motor tools and fun seasonal loose parts makes it all the more engaging! What’s your favorite Halloween-themed sensory bin?
Writer’s Bio
Lucy Baker is a Mom of two (4 & 8 years old) passionate about creative play and hands-on learning. She firmly believes in providing children with the opportunity to learn through play and being part of their play journey as a parent. See more of her creative play ideas and process art projects on Instagram @findthelittlemind, and over on her blog, Find the Little Mind.
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