Back to School Sensory Bin with Colored Pasta

This school sensory bin uses colored pasta as a base and a wooden bus, school and people toys for kids to play with. A great way to prep for back to school.

When my kids started preschool, our favorite way to prepare for the day was through play. We would act out what being in school was like, different social scenarios, and how to treat others. Sensory play was always helpful, as my kids all seemed to really connect with these discussions while engaging all of their senses. Here is a fun and simple bin to put together to help get your child ready for school.

A Back to School Sensory Bin with Colored Pasta

This bin is based around a classic preschool activity….raw pasta necklaces! I’m pretty sure just about every preschooler has done this before right? Dyeing raw pasta is incredibly easy, I like to follow the same process that we use to dye rice.

What you need for the school sensory bin:

-Rigatoni Pasta (Penne works well too; basically any kind that can be used for stringing. Rigatoni is great for little hands)

-Hand Sanitizer

-Food Coloring

What to do:

Separate the pasta into baggies (as many bags as colors you would like). Add a pump/squirt of hand sanitizer. Most people use vinegar, I like to use the sanitizer because if you use a scented one, we used lemon, your ingredients smell lovely. Which adds another sensory experience to your bin. This just helps the food coloring to spread around.

Add a few drops of food coloring. You don’t want to use too much because it will make your pasta a bit soggy. I like to err on the side of too little food coloring because you can always add more. Shake the bags up to distribute the ingredients evenly.

Ideally you want to let this dry overnight. I wanted to use the pasta today so I just spread it out on a baking sheet and threw it under the broiler for about 5 minutes. It dried out pretty quickly!

I started with the base of the colored pasta and some string. Then I scoured our playroom for anything that reminded me of school. I found a couple of boys, a school bus puzzle piece, a wooden building, and some pedestrian crossing signs.

That was really all we needed to spark some great play! This bin was fantastic because it offered a great sensory experience, fine motor stringing, and some fun role play (very important for our school readiness goal).

We made up a song about the kids going to school and saying goodbye to their mom (the song ended with the mom coming back).

We also put a dollhouse near the bin where the mom was waiting for the boys while they were at school. This helps children prepare for the concept of a parent dropping them off and picking them up, and gave me confidence that not only my kids, but I too, will be okay!