Sensory bin fillers are a fun thing to explore as a kid. From goop to water and beans to flour, there are so many filler options. In fact, we are a part of the project by Little Bins for Little Hands covering 40 unique Sensory Bin Fillers. Our filler? Coconut oil! We are finally seeing a spring thaw here in Oklahoma and this was the perfect time to talk about it as we froze and melted our coconut oil. A huge bonus to using coconut oil as a sensory bin filler is because it can be safely eaten since it is shelf-stable form of food. (Plus it’s good for you!)
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Time to out that jar of coconut oil and do a spring thaw activity so that you kids can get the whole spectrum of coconut oil textures and then can have fun while doing it!
What we did:
1. Cut out pictures and shapes of fish and flowers. I then laminated them with my home Laminator
so that they would not get damaged and become a mess in the oil.
2. Place them at the bottom of a silicone cake pan and then spread coconut oil of the top of it. If you use a virgin coconut oil like Tropical Traditions (what I used), then you will not be able to see the fish and flowers underneath. This made it fun for my daughter to discover and excavate!
3. Placed the pan in the freezer for 30 minutes.
4. In the meantime, we cut out the shape of a sun from yellow paper. hen we traced the circle part of our hair dryer on the sun to cut out a hole. This allowed us to slide the sun on the hair dryer.
5. Pulled out the coconut oil ice, and started playing with it! As we played with it, it slowly melted. In the spirit of child-led play, I let her play with it before introducing the hair dryer. She poked it and hit it, making it crack just as if a pond was cracking.
6. After awhile, I pulled out the “sun” and we pretended like spring was coming to free the fish from the depths of the “pond”! I held the hair dryer out of safety concerns and kept it on low and warm.
Ultimately, we had a blast playing with coconut oil and getting to feel it’s solid state, mushy state, and oily state. It is by far one of our favorite sensory bin fillers that we have ever done. So much so we keep coming back to it. Meaning we just keep the same oil in a jar. (We wash hands thoroughly before and after playing with the coconut oil).
Be sure to check out some of our other sensory learning activities. From using berries for finger paints, to using aloe gel for an slimy ocean sensory bin filler.
What are your Favorite Sensory Bin Fillers?
Kara is an author and advocate for positive, grace-filled parenting. She is homeschooler to her 5 children living on a farm in New England. She believes in creative educational approaches to help kids dive deeper into a rich learning experience and has her degree in Secondary Education & Adolescent Childhood Development. She is passionate about connecting with and helping other parents on their journey to raise awesome kids!
Alida, The Realistic Mama
What a great idea! I love sensory bins and have never thought to use coconut oil, this will be a new favorite for sure! I love how you allowed for child led learning first before introducing the hair dryer, that’s so important!
Kara
Thank you Alida! coconut oil has been our favorite. I hope that you and your little one really enjoy it! I used to do it with my daughter before she was old enough to participate in all the ones that could be choking hazards or when I didn’t want her eating food. I didn’t mind a bit of coconut oil if it happened to go in her mouth. The great part about letting her explore first was that she found the fish on her own and she was so please by that 😉
Victoria
What a brilliant idea! We’ve used water and olive oil in a sensory tub before but I’d never thought to use coconut oil. We’ll definitely be trying this at.home-thank you!
Kara
No problem! I hope that you and your family enjoy it as much as we love it!
Kara
No problem! I hope that you and your family enjoy it as much as we love it!