How to Be Awesome at Sensory Play: Fall Sensory Box

This sensory box kind of happened in stages.  First, I did a box just filled with popcorn kernels.  I put some measuring cups, bowls, scoops, and whatever else is in her "kitchen basket" to play with, and she absolutely loved it!  She loved the texture of the popcorn, and the way it poured.  

I like that it's a little bigger than rice, so it doesn't bounce around all over the place quite as much!

She loved pouring it, scooping it, stirring it, and just putting her hands in it!

This by itself was a big hit and kept her occupied for a long time.

Then, a few days ago, I got the idea to go gather a bunch of acorns from our huge white oak tree in our backyard and use them for a sensory box.  Gathering the acorns was a sensory activity in and of itself, and Cricket loved hunting for them, finding their "hats," and putting them in the bag.

She lost interest before we had enough to fill the whole box, though, so I decided to just add them to the popcorn and make it a "fall sensory box."  I also put in some Indian corn I had gotten for her to play with, and we gathered a few leaves from the backyard as well.

She loved it!  She played with it for a long time.  She loved playing with the popcorn again, but she also loved the different texture of the acorns, and she really liked the Indian corn.

At first, I didn't really include any cups or scoops, but she quickly decided she needed some.  She would say, "another cup" and get up and get one from her kitchen basket. 

By the time she was finished, she had pretty much all her tools out.  I loved that she laid out her measuring spoons and placed a few corn kernels in each spoon!

I used this time as a chance to teach her the concept of "big and little."  The acorns were big and the corn kernels were little.  There were big and little leaves, too.  By the end of our play time, she had it down!

Even after she was finished with the box, she kept the leaves and played with them some more.  She liked throwing them in the air and watching how they fell.

This was a great sensory activity for fall.  I know she will be excited to play with it again and again!