My little one loves sensory bins, so for this activity we combined an Easter sensory bin with a bunny hunt.
We started with the story, “Happy Easter, Pout-Pout Fish” by Deborah Diesen. Short and simple, this book goes along with the Pout-Pout Fish series, which we love. After reading, we had our own bunny hunt using our Easter sensory bin. (Toddler tip: I let my preschooler play unstructured in the sensory bin before trying to start this activity. Once she was able to do her own play, she was excited to learn how to do the more structured bunny hunt activity.
For me, it’s important to give her that independent play time with our materials first. (Added bonus: it gives me some time to empty the dishwasher or fold our mountain of laundry!)
Interested in trying this at home?
Here’s the set-up for grown ups:
1. Create an Easter sensory bin.
Start with a plastic rectangular bin:
– add rice
-Easter decorations
-At least 15 little bunnies
2. Take a sharpie and write the numbers 0-5 on plastic Easter eggs. Place the eggs in a basket. (I mindfully add in the number zero to these counting activities. It’s a great visual when zero means an empty egg.)
You’re little one is ready to go!
Here’s the steps for the kiddos:
1. Pull an Easter egg from the basket
2. Read the number written on the egg
3. Hunt for that many bunnies in the sensory bin
4. Line up the bunnies and recount to make sure you have the correct number
5. Put the bunnies in the Easter egg and snap it closed
6. Repeat with the rest of the eggs
(Adult tip: It’s easy to catch yourself stepping in to help close those Easter eggs, but TRY to pause and let your little one work with it for a minute. This is great fine motor skills practice and it helps to build your preschooler’s frustration tolerance.)
Little learners today, leaders tomorrow… happy creating!
Want to try this activity out? Just pick up the materials below and have fun!
Are You a New York State Pre-K Teacher?
This lesson aligns with the Next Gen Standards:
- Counting and Cardinality: Count to tell the number of objects
PK.CC.3a – When counting objects, say the number names in standard order, pairing each object with one and only one number name and each number name with one and only one object (1:1 correspondence)
MATERIALS:
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Rectangular plastic bin (Dollar Tree works great for these! We use them over and over again)
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Rice
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6 plastic Easter eggs (I found these at Dollar Tree, but they are also on Amazon)
- Black marker
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At least 15 tiny bunnies (bunny erasers from Target or Dollar Tree work great)
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Easter themed objects for your sensory bin (these or these are great!)
BOOKS: