Looking for a Halloween sensory bin that inspires mess, sensory tactile play? This spooky sensory bin has purple water beads, plastic spiders, Halloween toys, and is a fun fine motor and sensory activity for developing skills this time of year. Add this idea to your Halloween occupational therapy ideas. Sensory bins are such a fun way to learn and play!
As a pediatric occupational therapist, I’ve found that creating easy Halloween sensory bin ideas for toddlers and preschoolers can celebrate the holiday and sneak in therapy interventions that support development.
I love putting together non-spooky sensory bins for preschoolers because it’s a fantastic way to introduce them to Halloween themes in a playful, non-scary way. You can use materials that are fun to explore like tongs and plastic spider rings, and you can use sensory bin fillers like orange and green shredded paper.
It’s especially easy to make Halloween sensory bins using materials you have on hand, with just one added material like googly eyes.
Halloween Sensory Bin
We made this Halloween sensory bin many years ago, and it was a huge hit. We used purple water beads, however if water beads aren’t appropriate for the clients on your therapy caseload, that’s ok.
Use the spooky (or not spooky) sensory bin activity to target specific skills:
- Fine motor skills– pincer grasp, separation of the sides of the hand, thumb opposition
- Tool use- tongs, tweezers, scoops
- Eye-hand coordination
- Tactile sensory exploration
- Benefits of playing with a sensory bin: self-confidence, problem solving, creativity, etc.
- Visual motor skills- great for pouring and scooping
- Learning opportunities
- Scissor skills by cutting paper in the sensory bin
There are many items that you can use as a sensory base in a Halloween sensory bin.
Over the years, I’ve shared many DIY Halloween sensory activities for kids using simple items I already had at home. When working with children who have special needs, I’ve tailored Halloween sensory bins to provide just the right amount of sensory input, ensuring that every child can enjoy the experience.
For example, you can work on sensory motor skills like bilateral coordination, motor planning, fine motor work, heavy work, vestibular input, and gross motor strengthening with this giant spider web activity. An activity like this one can include a Halloween sensory bin…add picture cards or an example of the things students should find in the sensory bin within the spider web. They can climb through the strings and then go to the sensory bin, where they need to look for the matching item.
You can use the Halloween sensory bin cards that we have inside The OT Toolbox Membership Club in your sensory bin and in the gross motor spider web task.
Halloween Sensory Bin Fillers
We have many sensory bin ideas here on The OT Toolbox, but to make this one pumpkin, ghosts, or spider themed, you can pull out any Halloween decoration or party supply.
I often look for ways to save money, so I’ve put together some cheap Halloween sensory bins with household items that I can repurpose.
This is nice because I love to re-use those materials, when possible, to make other holiday sensory bins. If you use a tool like tweezers or tongs, you can definitely reuse the sensory bin materials.
Some of the small items you can use to fill a Halloween sensory bin include (a lot of these items can be found at the dollar store):
- Googly eyes
- Black and orange dyed rice
- Plastic spiders and bugs
- Eyeball bouncy balls
- Plastic bats
- Miniature pumpkins- these are good for sorting items into
- Foam ghost shapes
- Halloween-themed mini-erasers
- Plastic witch’s cauldrons- also use these to sort different small objects into
- Plastic vampire teeth- I like to use these like mini-tongs. Kids can put them on their fingers to pick items up.
- Glow-in-the-dark stars and moons
- Black and orange craft pom-poms
- Plastic candy corn shapes
- Orange and black feathers
- Miniature witch hats
- Plastic skulls
- Plastic snakes
- Black and orange beads
Many of these Halloween sensory bin ideas would be a great addition to a Halloween party.
One tip is to save party favors that kids get from Halloween parties at school. Because most schools don’t allow edible party treats, some parents will purchase small items like the plastic spider rings. I like to save these and add them to my sensory bin stash! Then you can make a Halloween toy I Spy game with those same items.
When I create these bins, I like to use things like rice, pasta, or homemade playdough, which makes these activities accessible for everyone. Here is how we used colored rice in a sensory writing table.
Another good idea is to use cooked pasta like we did in our messy sensory play activity. This is especially “spooky” for a Halloween bin.
How to use a Halloween sensory bin
Once you fill your bin with sensory play materials, there is more to it than just playing. The occupational therapy provider will probably think about all of the skills being targeted.
You can support learning and skills like executive functioning using a sensory bin, too.
- Textures: Add materials with different textures to encourage tactile exploration. Consider including items like sand, kinetic sand, rice, dry beans, cotton balls, or foam pieces. Or, add wet and dry ingredients to mix things up. For kids with tactile defensiveness, this can be a real challenge.
- STEM and Math Skills: Incorporate items that promote Halloween math skills. Use small toys or objects that children can count, sort, or group. You can also add numbers or counting cards for math-related activities. In The OT Toolbox Members Club, we have counting cards with pumpkin numbers that are perfect for this.
- Sensory Words: I like to work on self confidence in kids when playing in sensory bins. You can introduce themed books, flashcards, or word cards related to the sensory bin theme. Encourage children to describe what they see, hear, and feel in the bin, which enhances vocabulary and language development. This is important for self-regulation skills.
- Fine Motor Skills: Include tools like tweezers, tongs, or small scoops for activities that develop fine motor skills. Children can use these tools to pick up, transfer, or manipulate items within the sensory bin.
- Creativity: Add materials that inspire creativity, such as colored paper, markers, or crayons. Children can use these supplies to draw, write, or create art based on the sensory bin’s theme.
- Science Exploration: Incorporate items related to the scientific aspects of the theme. For example, if it’s an ocean-themed bin, include shells, plastic marine animals, and magnifying glasses for observing and learning about sea life.
- Problem-Solving: Include puzzles, mazes, or objects that require problem-solving skills. These can be used to create challenges or games within the sensory bin.
- Social Skills: Encourage group play and social interaction by providing enough materials for multiple children. Promote sharing, cooperation, and communication during sensory play.
- Music and Sounds: Play background music or use sound-making objects to stimulate the auditory sense. This can enhance the sensory experience and create a multisensory environment.
- Sensory Storytelling: Use the sensory bin as a storytelling tool. Create or find a story related to the theme and use items in the bin to act out the narrative. This combines sensory play with imaginative storytelling.
- Color Recognition: Choose items in different colors to promote color recognition. Have children sort or group items by color.
- Seasonal Themes: Align your sensory bin with seasonal or holiday themes. This keeps the sensory experience fresh and engaging throughout the year.
- Emotion Exploration: Introduce items that represent emotions or facial expressions. Use this opportunity to discuss and explore feelings and emotions.
Using a Halloween Sensory Bin in Occupational Therapy
In my practice as a pediatric OT, I often focus on using Halloween sensory bins to develop fine motor skills. Activities like scooping, pouring, and sorting small items are perfect for helping kids strengthen these skills in a fun way. You can use tweezers, tongs, scoops, or just fingers to work on fine motor coordination and strength.
You can also use image cards like the ones in The OT Toolbox Membership to work on visual memory, visual attention, and visual motor skills.
I’ve also seen how Halloween sensory play ideas like a themed bin are beneficial for children who need help with sensory processing.
Budget-Friendly Halloween Sensory Bins with Everyday Items
We made a simple sensory bin with just snips of orange and green paper. This was an easy way to incorporate skills like bilateral coordination to hold and cut the paper, and then refined motor skills like neat pincer grasp and intrinsic strength to peel and place stickers. I had this little one work on scissor skills and cut strips of paper into squares.
They then peeled stickers (there are SO many reasons to play with stickers!) and placed on on each piece. We added another paper square to match so that it was a DIY memory game type of activity. Memory card games are a powerful too, too, so this is another reason to add this game to the sensory bin.
We then scattered the cut paper squares into the sensory bin and hid the stickers.
I had this kiddo seek and find the stickers to match the pictures on the squares. It was such a great way to work on so many skill areas!
Then, after we did that activity, we hid Halloween mini erasers like bats and spiders. The child used fingers and then tongs to pick up erasers.
Feed Me Sensory Bins
One activity that I really love is using a “Feed Me” sensory bin. You might have seen this before…it’s usually a large face with a hole cut in the mouth area. I like to tape the face cut out to a container like an empty tissue box or a container of some type. You put small objects like mini erasers or letter cards into the mouth.
This is nice because it encourages eye hand coordination and wrist extension when working on a vertical plane to feed the creature or face.
We have several “feed me” activities in The OT Toolbox Membership Club. Plus, letter cards to go along with the theme to add in handwriting and letter identification.
Another Halloween Sensory Bin
Halloween Sensory Bin
Grab the Pumpkin Fine Motor Kit for more coloring, cutting, and eye-hand coordination activities with a Pumpkin theme! It includes:
- 7 digital products that can be used any time of year- has a “pumpkins” theme
- 5 pumpkin scissor skills cutting strips
- Pumpkin scissor skills shapes- use in sensory bins, math, sorting, pattern activities
- 2 pumpkin visual perception mazes with writing activity
- Pumpkin “I Spy” sheet – color in the outline shapes to build pencil control and fine motor strength
- Pumpkin Lacing cards – print, color, and hole punch to build bilateral coordination skills
- 2 Pumpkin theme handwriting pages – single and double rule bold lined paper for handwriting practice
Work on underlying fine motor and visual motor integration skills so you can help students excel in handwriting, learning, and motor skill development.
You can grab this Pumpkin Fine Motor kit for just $6!
Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
