count with grain bins

counting corn kernels

animal washing station
balloon herding - round
up the animals

finger print or bubble

5 little ducks wrap printing
how many spots

music basket pigs in the mud chicken egg sorting counting and writing

sensory bin footprint horse

chicken coop

paper bag cow

Number Activity: Learn to Count with
Grain Bins

A simple number activity to practice counting to five!

Learn to Count with Grain Bins

I numbered five empty baby food jars. (I’m overstocked right now, but
I’m finding lots of uses for them lately. What do you use them for?) I
numbered both the sides and the lids of the jars with matching colored
paper. (I only did five so Henry wouldn’t get overwhelmed, since he
seems to be struggling with counting.)

I then filled each jar with the corresponding number of marshmallows.

(I did this to show Henry the number to begin with so he wasn’t
expected to know it.)

I set out Henry’s track tractor and wagon ‘grain cart’ along with the
grain truck. Henry’s a farmer to the bone, so I figured this would get
him more involved. It did. I set out a toothpick, as well, with the
intention for him to poke the marshmallows to transfer from the ‘grain
bins’ to the grain cart. This wasn’t fast enough for Henry, so he just
dumped the bins out.

Henry loaded up his grain cart with all five bins worth
of marshmallows corn. Then transferred the corn to the grain truck.
Which then hauled the corn back to the bins.

When it was time to unload into the bins, Henry unscrewed each lid
off, filled up each bin until it was ‘full’ (to the correct number), then
quickly found the matching lid and screwed it back on. (Nice work for
the fine motor skills, my toothpick idea didn’t work, but this did.)

Henry had no problems with counting 1-3. At 4 he added a few too

many. When he got to 5, he realized he didn’t have enough and was
puzzled. So, I redirected him back to 4 to recount.

He hauled the corn from bin to grain cart to grain truck a few times,
until he eventually ate all his ‘corn’. (He then found Cheerios ‘beans’ to
haul and did the same.)

Grain Bin activity is not solely focused on counting, so it was much

more fun for him.
 WASHING FARM ANIMAL SENSORY BIN

Washing Farm Animal Sensory Bin

Sensory Bin Supplies

 1-2 plastic bins (we used our water table with 2 compartments)
 water
 dish soap
 plastic farm animals
 dirt
 washcloths, brushes, sponges, etc

Farm Animal Washing Station

Before the farm animals can get clean they need to get dirty!

 Set up a muddy area for the animals by mixing some of the dirt with
water. We found that getting the dirt moist but not too wet worked best
for repeated washings.
 Add the dish soap to the water to create bubbles and add the animals
and cleaning supplies.
 Call the kids over to play! Let them take the lead by not providing too
many instructions.

This farm animal sensory bin is a great one to pull out when you need to get
something done or are having “one of those” days. Playing in the dirt and the
bubbles is fun for kids of all ages and a great way to turn a day around. Try it
while you are making dinner!