Own Butterfly Sensory Bin
FAMILY FUN
Make Your
BY LINDSAY PONTA
A HANDS-ON LEARNING ACTIVITY FOR
LITTLE ONES THAT’S FLUTTERING FUN
It may finally be spring, but there’s still a chance
rainy weather will keep us indoors, going a
bit stir-crazy with our kids. If that statement
resonates with you on a deeply personal level,
then I have just the activity to help pass the time:
Butterfly Sensory Bin.

Activities that stimulate a child’s senses are
important for the development of important
skills, such as motor skills, social skills and
even language, math and science skills. And this
Butterfly Sensory Bin stimulates lots of senses—
perfect for little hands and growing minds.

Picking up beads with tweezers and
then threading them onto the butterflies, for
example, helps build fine motor skills and
hand-eye coordination.

Since there are so many ways to play with
this sensory bin, it can grow right along with
your child. With toddlers, you can talk about
colors and the differences between textures.

Older kids might be interested in learning more
about butterflies and other insects and how
pollination works.

This sensory bin
is also a fun way
for siblings to play together. Older brothers
or sisters can play the teacher role, helping
younger siblings explore tougher concepts. n
Lindsay Ponta created the DIY and lifestyle
website Shrimp Salad Circus in 2009 to
inspire busy women to live perfectly
imperfect creative lives. Find
easy DIYs and recipes at
shrimpsaladcircus.com. SUPPLIES
2-pound bag of
white rice
Green food coloring
Large plastic bag
Baking sheet or
casserole dish
Bin or tray
Artificial flowers
Yellow beads
Toy butterflies
Butterfly net
Tweezers Optional: Printable question cards from
shrimpsaladcircus.com INSTRUCTIONS
First, we’re going to make “grass” for the butterflies to live on by dying white rice.

1. Pour 2 pounds of white rice into a large plastic bag.

2. Squeeze a generous amount of green food coloring over the rice.

3. Seal plastic bag, then shake and squeeze the rice until it’s all green.

4. Pour green rice onto a baking sheet or casserole dish, and set it out
to air dry overnight. Note: Don’t skip this step or your little ones will end
up with green fingers and clothes!
Now it’s time to assemble the butterfly bin.

1. Pour the fully-dried green rice into a bin or tray.

2. Arrange a few artificial flowers on top of the rice.

3 Sprinkle a few yellow beads onto the centers of the
flowers to make “pollen.”
Optional: Download butterfly question cards from
shrimpsaladcircus.com (search “butterfly”), print and
cut out. You can use the question cards to keep bigger
kids engaged in this butterfly activity. They can help start
discussions and create further opportunities for enrichment.

4. Place some butterflies around the
flowers. 5. Add the tweezers and butterfly
net to the bin.

You can also find the questions below, along with ways to incorporate them into sensory activities.

Q: WHAT DO BUTTERFLIES EAT?
A: Butterflies sip nectar from flowers using their tongues.

Demonstrate a butterfly landing on a flower and using
its tongue like a straw to drink the sweet nectar.

Q: WHERE DO BUTTERFLIES SLEEP?
A: Butterflies can sleep just about anywhere.

Put your butterflies to bed somewhere in the bin, and
then wake them up in the morning to play again.

Q: HOW DO BUTTERFLIES GET AROUND?
A: Butterflies can walk on their six legs, but they love to use
their wings to fly from flower to flower.

Pick up a butterfly and let it fly all around, landing on
flowers along the way.

Q: HOW MANY BODY PARTS DO BUTTERFLIES HAVE?
A: Butterflies’ bodies have three major parts: a head, a
thorax and an abdomen. They also have two eyes, two
antennae, two wings and six legs.

Investigate a butterfly to find and count all these
body parts.

Q: HOW DO BUTTERFLIES HELP FLOWERS?
A: Butterflies are great pollinators. They pick up pollen as
they drink from flowers, leaving some behind each time they
land on a new flower.

Thread some yellow beads from the center of a
flower onto a butterfly’s legs to demonstrate how
it picks up pollen. Drop a few beads at the next
flower, showing how pollination works.

Be sure to share
pictures of your Butterfly
Sensory Bin on social
media with the hashtag
#washingtonfamilymag so we can see (and share!)
your creativity.

WashingtonFAMILY.com 11