Ready for shark week?? My kids certainly are. Whether they’re pretending to be jaws in the bathtub or simply exploring all the wonderful sea creatures in their toy bin, playing with sharks is always something on their daily list of must-do activities.
As curious little animal-loving boys, they have a particular fascination with sharks (amongst other creatures), so I knew I had to put together a fun little kids activity for shark week. Something quick and effortless, but perfect for their sensory play needs.
RELATED: Ocean Beach Sensory Bin
That’s when a shark-infested sensory bin came to mind.
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To get started, we gathered a few very basic supplies of whatever we had in house.
I grabbed a long, yet shallow storage bin we purchased here that is ideal for sensory play. After gathering rocks from the yard, we filled the bin with water and added a few of these cute little plastic trees to decorate the ocean floor.
I also added a little blue food coloring to make it even more exciting for the boys. Seriously that color change made things so much more interesting. My kids kept ooing and ‘ahhing’ over it. The little things :).
Finally, we added the sharks. We love the Schleich brand sharks because they are super durable and can withstand the rough play of toddler and preschool age boys. You can get the one we own at Amazon.com or even this cute little set that comes with a cage and underwater diver my kids would’ve gone nuts over!
My 4 year-old added a little turtle and brave little “sea diver” to fight off the sharks.
Look at those jaws! What a scary close-up of the vicious sea creatures.
The boys had so much fun watching the ripples in the water form and listening to the splashing sharks. They eventually added a bunch of other animals too – some dino-like critters I can’t even name to be honest!
Definitely a great way to entertain them while simultaneously teaching them a thing or two about sharks. I should definitely do more of these sensory bins, since they can have such a calming effect and help wind kids down after a hectic day!
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Ana, a mom to three rambunctious little boys, has supported hundreds of thousands of women throughout their pregnancy and motherhood journey since 2012 as a blogger and maternal health advocate at MommysBundle.com.
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