A is for Apple Cinnamon Sensory Bin

Fall is by far my favorite season. It makes me happy in so many ways. Autumn in New England is gorgeous, and there are so many fun family friendly activities to do. In the past couple of weeks, we have been apple picking, pumpkin picking, and to the fair. Kingston has a new found love for apples and apple flavored items, and is obsessed with saying pumpkin ("pump pump"). In honor of all of the fall fun we have been having, I wanted to make K a fun apple themed sensory bin to explore at home. What I came up with was the most scrumptious smelling sensory bin we have explored yet!

I mixed a generous amount of cinnamon with our old sensory oats, combining until they gave off a strong and delicious smell. I added a bunch of cinnamon sticks (three in which I used to form the letter "A"), a small McIntosh apple, and a ball of red wool yarn for something interesting. The yarn looked like its red apple counterpart, but had a fun texture and added another activity component to the bin. I also added a tiny silver scoop. The addition of the real apple mixed with the oat and cinnamon scent made the entire bin smell like apple crisp. Yum.

Kingston crawled right over to the splat mat, sat down and waited patiently for me to place the bin in front of him. I was pretty impressed. Clearly the last 8 months of sensory exploration has paid off! I set it down and he immediately reached in bypassing everything and going for the oats themselves. 

He was immediately drawn to both the yarn and the apple. He picked up the yarn and said, "ball". I told him that it looked like a red apple and pointed out the apple. He practiced saying "uh-pal" a few times. Then he took out the apple and we talked about what is was and where we got it (apple picking). We took turns smelling the apple. 

Then he took his time pinching handfuls of oats and throwing them around the mat. The cinnamon scent wafted in the air and it made the kitchen smell absolutely delectable. Then the apple of my eye picked the ball of yarn back up and went to town exploring it. 

He unwound most of it, tangled himself up in it, and laughed. Then he turned his attention to the little silver scoop and began stirring the cinnamon oats with it. 

He tired of it quickly and explored the cinnamon sticks. I pointed out the letter "A". I told him that "A was for Apple" and helped him to trace the cinnamon stick letter with his finger. He picked one up, used it to stir the oats, tapped the side of the dish with it, and then put it in his mouth. He gave it a light gnaw and wasn't impressed with the flavor. 

Kingston picked the oats back up and took them in and out of my hands. Then we did the same with the apple. 

Then my mischievous little rascal got the idea to get inside of the sensory bin. I didn't actually know what he was doing until he was sitting inside of the dish laughing. It was precious. 

Look at me Mama!

After he was done in the bin, he crawled his little apple cinnamon booty over to me and we snuggled and shared the little apple. It was such a sweet moment with my little guy! 

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