Farm Land: A sensory bin using natural materials

The last time we made a farm themed sensory bin we used leftover Easter grass. It was fun, but I knew they could get more out of a natural materials bin. So this time we used ground coffee for the dirt and mud and cut grass and flowers. The animals were plastic though. I don't think we could have fit real animals in that bin. :) I also decided not to add the barn, since it takes up most of the bin (I really need to get a smaller one, since the animals are also small).
I covered half the bin in the ground coffee (I don't actually drink coffee, so this was fresh ground coffee, and for the mud I just put some coffee in a tupperware and mixed in some water) and the other half in the grass and flowers (buttercups and small purple flowers). Bean started by taking the mud out and putting it on the side of the bin and dumped the animals on top of the grass.

Normally we use tea for dirt and mud, so Bean just had to investigate! She loved the smell and texture. And it did not stick to her hands a lot, which she liked. 

They dragged the rake through the dirt and enjoyed the sound it made (there was parchment paper underneath, so it made a crackling sound).

Because the parchment paper was underneath, it was a lot easier to see the tracks made in the coffee. 

Bean added the mud back in and the pigs took a nap. The bull decided he wanted a mud bath too. It was great having the dry and wet coffee grounds in the same bin because we have been working on "light" and "dark" colours with Bean and this was a perfect example. It can also be used to physically describe something being "dry" and "wet". 

After about an hour, everything started getting mixed together :) Bean called it "farm soup". 

And all the animals got a luxurious mud bath.

This is definitely Bean's favourite farm themed sensory bin! Next time we will make a fence and maybe add an oobleck watering hole. :)

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