Snake Sensory Bin

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I created this slippery slimy snake sensory bin for M (3 years old) after a dollar store spree with one goal in mind: come up with anything – ANYTHING! that will productively occupy him (read: save my sanity) during winter break. And that’s when I hit on this crazy idea… Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links.

Silly string.

Y’know, that awful prank stuff that was created to annoy people?

There had to be a better purpose for it. So, I grabbed a few cans with the intention of creating the most epic silly string loaded sensory bin that the preschool world has ever seen.

But it didn’t quite work out like that. I’d probably need 30 cans to fill up a decent size container. 30 x $1 a pop – you do the math (and that’s if you find it at / have the time to go to your dollar store). There went my easy, CHEAP activity (considering that the string can’t really be reused.)

So really all we needed to do was allow this sensory activity to evolve, and wing it. The silly string ended up swimming in swampy green water and this snake sensory bin was a winter-break winner. So now that summer break is almost here, might as well share it with you.

First of all, check out the video of how we did this fun water play activity:

Now on to the how’s and what’s…

What you need for the snake sensory bin:

• Silly string (check out your dollar store to see if they have it too!)
• Plastic snakes (another dollar store find)
• Food coloring (optional) + water
• Measuring spoons, scoops, etc.
• A bin – we started with a shoe box sized storage container then expanded to two of those, placed inside an under bed box for pouring and transferring purposes. FYI a baby bath that’s no longer needed works too – just make sure that the plug is, well, plugged….

How to have fun with a snake sensory bin:

The main thing is, let your child lead! Be open to possibilities!

Start by spraying as much silly string as you can out of the can…

Toss in some plastic snakes.

Squish the string as you go along…

Add some gross green water.

Place it alongside another storage container into a larger container. Scoop, play, squish and enjoy!

FYI I’d venture to say that silly string is likely pretty toxic, so obviously use common sense, supervision, and only do this with a child who definitely won’t drink it.

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