Strawberry Sensory Bin

This adorable strawberry sensory bin for kids uses dyed rice and pasta to make a strawberry-shaped sensory bin that is perfect for letter recognition and learning letter sounds.

This sensory bin is perfect for children that are preschool and kindergarten aged as it will help them learn their letter sounds and letters. It is also great for toddlers to work on skills like scooping, pouring, colors, measuring, and more.

For this sensory bin, you will need red-dyed rice, black-dyed rice or beans, and green-dyed rice or pasta. You will also need magnetic or resin letters and the optional free template found at the bottom of this page.

For other fun summer fruit-themed activities check out these summer fruit crafts or these summer sensory bins. 

Letter Recognition Strawberry Sensory Bin Ideas

*There are three different versions of the strawberry sensory bin recording sheet. One version is an uppercase letter recording sheet, another is a lowercase letter recording sheet, and the last one is a letter sound recording sheet.

If completing the sensory bin with younger children you can just focus on one sheet at a time. Start with the uppercase sheet and have them find matching uppercase letters and add them to the top of their sheet (or color in that letter on their sheet). You could also do the matching version with lowercase letters.

If your children recognize uppercase and lowercase letters you could take it a step further and have them match uppercase to lowercase and vice versa.

*If your children know all of their letters you can move on to the letter sounds. We’d recommend using the uppercase letters when working on letter sounds. Have children find a letter, share the sound it makes and then match it to the picture that starts with the same letter.

When making this strawberry themed sensory bin we find it works best to use an oval or circle shaped bin. You will also need to dye your rice or pasta following directions to dye sensory materials for play.  You can add in any additional scoops and pouring materials. Cups, bowls, and spoons all work great too.

How can I dye Rice for Sensory Play?

There are many ways to dye rice for sensory play. However, the one that we prefer and find makes the most beautiful and vibrant colors involves using paint.

To make dyed rice for sensory play simply add your desired amount of rice to a ziploc bag. Squeeze a little acrylic paint into the bag (as much or as little as needed to create the color desired). Close the bag and shake it up until the color has spread to all of the rice.

Open the bag up to check. If there is still white rice left once open, squeeze a little more paint in and shake and smoosh the bag more. If you feel like there is too much paint and the rice is too goopy you can always add a few more scoops of rice and shake the bag up again.

Pour the rice out on a cookie sheet lined with a paper towel and spread it so it is as thin as possible. Leave on the counter or in the sun to dry. Once it is dry it is ready to use.