July 2, 2018

A themed sensory bin can be just the item needed to address fine motor skills through tactile sensory play and tactile exploration with a themed twist. This mini sensory bin does just that with a starry night theme. This miniature version of a sensory bin can be tossed into a therapy bag for a fresh sensory activity!

Make a mini star sensory bin and use it to address fine motor skills, bilateral coordination, eye-hand coordination, and other skills as part of an occupational therapy activity kit bin rotation system while addressing therapy goals with kids.

Mini Sensory Bin Activity

Affiliate links are included in this post.

We’ve done plenty of sensory bins here on The OT Toolbox. From water sensory bin play to tactile play using mediums like rocks, sand, or even clay…exploring various sensations through pretend play and exploration is fun in a way that encourages fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, bilateral coordination, graded grasp and release, crossing midline and much more!

Check out this sensory bin we made that is perfect for addressing stress and self-regulation.

Use star chain links to work on therapy goals like fine motor skills and sensory needs with a mini star sensory bin.

This mini sensory bin can be used for so many underlying goal areas:

Pincer grasp- We used dry black beans as a sensory bin medium. Kids can explore and move the beans within the bin while building a pincer grasp as they hold and manipulate individual beans. Ask the child to pick up a single bean to count or to place within the star-shaped chain links.

In-Hand Manipulation- Use the black beans to boost the essential skill of in-hand manipulation as they hold and move a small handful of beans with in the hand. Ask the child to hold beans in their hand as they slowly drop one or a few beans at a time into the lid section of the bin. They can fill in the star chain links while working on this skill.

Bilateral Coordination- Connect the star chain links together while addressing and improving tripod grasp, arch development, while allowing both hands to work together in a coordinated manner.

Scooping and precision- Use a spoon or other utensil to refine the skills needed to move, scoop, transfer, and pour the beans into the lid section of the bin. Read more about developing and refining scooping, pouring, and transferring here.

How to Make a Mini Star Sensory Bin

We used just a few materials to make this mini star sensory bin for tactile sensory input and fine motor play:

Pencil box with lid

Dry black beans

Star chain links

Spoon

This is such a versatile and easy sensory bin to put together. Just pour 1-2 cups of dry black beans into a bin. Add the chain links…and play!

Add this sensory bin into a therapy bag or add it to a therapy bin rotation.

Looking for more sensory play that boosts underlying skills? Try these ideas:

S Themed sensory bins sticks and stones sensory play

S Themed Sensory Bin Sticks and Stones Easy Sensory Bin

Waterbead Pretend Tea Party

Liquid Chalk Driveway Sensory Play

Circus Sensory Bin

Looking for more occupational therapy kits that can be used in a bin rotation in therapy? Here are lots of ideas:

Occupational Therapy Activity Kits

More Themed Occupational Therapy Kits

Fine Motor Bin Rotation

Thank you for grabbing our Toy Themed Play Dough Mat! You should have an email in your inbox right now with a link to access the file.

Did you find this page accidentally and want to get your free copy of our city themed playdough mat? Go to our toy play dough mat page to get your free toy theme play dough mat!

The email also includes some instructions and the “why” behind play dough mats like this one. There is a lot of development going on when a little one uses a play dough mat like the one you just accessed! Scroll below to to find some additional instructions to best use the play dough mat to increase hand strength of the intrinsic muscles of the hands.

You will love this Free Play Dough Mat with a Toy Theme to build fine motor skills!

How to use your free printable play dough mat and General Housekeeping Information on your Free Printable:

If you do not see the email right away, check back within 30 minutes. Be sure to check your SPAM folder. Other subscribers using an email hosted on a school system’s email provider may have security restrictions in place that block the email. If you still don’t see the email, shoot me a message at contact@www.theottoolbox.com and I will send the file to you directly.

If you arrived here by accident and would like to receive a free toy themed play dough mat to improve hand strength, check out this post that shares information on the Toy Themed Play Dough Mat.

You are going to build so many small muscles of the hand with this activity!

1. To use this play dough mat, you will first want to cover it with a plastic surface so you can use it over and over again. Some ideas to do this include (Amazon affiliate links are included below):

Cover it with clear contact paper. Click the link to purchase a large roll of clear contact paper.
Slide the play dough mat into a clear plastic page protector sleeve. Add it to a folder workbook or binder booklet of play dough mats for quiet time or a busy bag-type of activity.
Use a laminator to cover the play dough mat with a laminated surface that can be used over and over again. This is a great price on a quick laminator and laminating pouches.
Use pocket sleeves to create a quiet time or fine motor center activity.

2. Once the play dough mat is covered, provide the child with play dough, clay, foam dough, or other moldable material.

3. Ask the child to roll small balls of play dough using just the fingers and thumb of one hand. They should use their dominant hand to roll small balls of play dough with the tips of the fingers and thumb. This is an AWESOME hand strengthening exercise for kids.

4. Ask the child or children to roll various sizes of play dough so the balls of dough fit into the various circle sizes on the play dough mat.

Play Dough Mats Can Be Used to Improve Fine Motor Skills

Kids love play dough! This toy play dough mat is a fun way to build so many small muscles of the hand with this activity! Follow the directions below to maximize intrinsic muscle strengthening. Start with play dough of any kind and the printable playdough mat.

Rolling play dough within one hand promotes development of a variety of areas:

Strengthens the arches of the hands, helps awareness and coordination in separation of the two sides of the hand

Promotes finger isolation for improved control and dexterity

Encourages dexterity and coordination of the thumb and index finger which are important in pencil grasp

Strengthens the intrinsic muscles for improved endurance in fine motor tasks such as maintaining hold on a pencil, manipulating clothing fasteners, managing and using scissors, coloring, and many other tasks.