Fun and Easy Color Sorting Sensory Bin for Kids

This Color Sorting Sensory Bin is a fun way for young kids to play during your next color theme.

Use it to practice color matching, fine motor skills and more.

Adult supervision is required for all activities at all times. Some of the links provided in this blog are affiliate links. I will be paid a commission if you use this link to make a purchase.

If you want to make your Color themed lessons a breeze, then check out the Color Activity Pack. It’s filled with math and literacy centers, fine motor activities and arts and crafts templates. All of which are aligned with preschool learning standards. Check it out today.

What You’ll Need
Instructions
Different Ways to Play
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Materials Needed

A large plastic tub
Items in different colors
Sensory bin tools (cups, bowls and spoons)
Different colored bowls

How to Make a Color Sorting Sensory Bin

1. Gather your materials

You can choose whatever colorful items you already have to include in this sensory bin. As long as they are the color of the rainbow.

I used:

Buttons
Popsicle sticks
Foam letters
Pom Poms
Pipe cleaners and
Scrunch up piece of paper

If you want to try this activity with babies, then make sure that you choose items that are large enough to not be a choking hazard. Large color blocks or ball pit balls would work perfectly.

2. Place them in the tub

Pour all of the items into the large tub and mix them together.

3. Set up your bowls

My tub wasn’t large enough to fit both the sensory bin fillers and the bowls. So instead I placed the colored bowls on the sensory table, next to the tub instead.

4. Enjoy playing

Grab a pair of tongs or a spoon and move the items from the tub to the same colored bowl. For example, the orange craft sticks go inside the orange bowl.

If you don’t have any colored bowls to use, you can always use colored paper instead. The items from the tub can sit on top of the bright colors.

Different Ways to Play

1. Color Sorting Activity

Sort the sensory materials into matching colors. This is a great way to teach young children color recognition and all of the color names while they play.

2. Making Words

Use the foam letters to make words. This activity can be as challenging as your child needs. Very young children can start by just recognizing the letters. Slightly older kids can word on CVC or sight words instead.

3. Sort into Hard and Soft

Sort and group the different items into their qualities, like hard and sort, or small and large. This is an easy way to get kids to practice sorting and grouping, which is a math skill kids need to learn before school.

4. Making Shapes

Use the different items to make 2D shapes, or even pictures. This is always a lot of fun, I love seeing the different pictures that my kids can come up with using the different materials.