Baby Bins: Summer

It’s finally summer here in Wisconsin, and after the longest winter ever, it feel so good to get outside and enjoy the sunshine! So I guess it’s time to come to terms with the fact that our little baby Aubrey isn’t really a baby anymore now that she’s 2. That means we are wrapping up baby bins this week, and she will be diving in to our tot school themes this fall!

These summer themed sensory bins and activities are great for learning and play and are completely baby safe. Baby Bins are the perfect way to learn, build language, play and explore with little ones between 12-24 months old.

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Here is a look at our second set of 6 seasonal themed baby bins:

Here are the details for each of our activities:

"Baby Loves Summer" by Karen Katz is such a fun lift the flap book for a summer theme. These Baby Bin plans are perfect for learning with little ones between 12-24 months old.

Summer Theme Read Aloud:

Aubrey loves all of the lift the flap books from Karen Katz, so this week’s summer story was Baby Loves Summer by Karen Katz. She loves all of the flaps to lift, and I love all the vocabulary it introduces.

Sun Theme Sensory Bin:

In this bin: yellow rice, penne pasta, yellow pouch lids
Aubrey used the materials in the bin to scoop, play, explore, and build suns.

Ice Cream Scooping:

In this bin: cotton balls, toy ice cream cones, scoops, spoons, and bowls

Cotton Candy Puffy Paint:

Our craft this week was made with this yummy puffy cotton candy paint. Aubrey helped me mix a small batch of puffy paint with equal parts shaving cream and white glue in a bowl. I divided it into 2 bowls and dyed one pink and one blue with food coloring. I also rolled a small piece of white cardstock to form a cone and glued it to the bottom of a sheet of paper for the cotton candy cone. Aubrey used the puffy paint to paint swirls of cotton candy on top of the cone.

Ice Cream Play Dough:

In this sensory bin: Funfetti playdough, buckets, sand toy ice cream set

This ice cream play dough is seriously amazing. It smells delicious and actually scoops like real ice cream! Best of all it is taste safe so even your littlest kiddos can play without any worry.

Here’s the super simple recipe:
-1 cup funfetti frosting (white or colored)
-About 3 cups powdered sugar

1. Mix in a stand mixer, adding powdered sugar gradually.
2. Add a bit more or less sugar until your dough isn’t sticky.

That’s it! I used the pre-colored pink frosting for our “strawberry” so I didn’t have to mess with food coloring. So easy!

Duck Race Sensory Bin:

In this sensory bin: water, cut pool noodle, small rubber ducks, squirt guns

For our last bin, I cut a pool noodle the length of the bin and placed it inside to divide the bin into 2 “lanes.” Then we placed one rubber duck in each lane. We each used a squirt gun to squirt the duck and race to the other side of the bin. Aubrey also had fun just spraying and splashing with the ducks in the bin even without racing.

Want all of this week’s seasonal themed activities for baby bins? You can grab them here:
On my site : Baby Bins: Seasonal {Plans and Printables}
On TpT: Baby Bins: Seasonal {Plans and Printables}

Tons of seasonal themed activities and ideas. Weekly plans include a book and 5 activities to try out (a mixture of sensory bins, crafts, fine motor and gross motor activities)! These Baby Bin plans are perfect for learning with little ones between 12-24 months old.

Or you can grab our entire year of themes and plans:
On my site here: Baby Bin Bundle On TpT here: Baby Bin Bundle

A full year of Baby Bin plans and printables, perfect for learning with little ones between 12-24 months old. Weekly plans include a book and 5 activities to try out (a mixture of sensory bins, crafts, fine motor and gross motor activities)!

Then check out the rest of our 35+ themes on the Baby Bins Curriculum Main Page.