Autumn is full of colors, textures, smells, and sounds that make it the perfect season for sensory play! Sensory bins are an easy and fun way to bring those seasonal experiences into your daycare classroom while giving little hands plenty to scoop, pour, sort, squish, and explore.
The best part? You don’t need expensive supplies or complicated setups. Many of these autumn sensory bin ideas can be put together with materials you already have around the classroom, or supplies that you can pick up inexpensively.
Here are 8 easy fall sensory bins for toddlers and preschoolers to try this season.
1. Fall Leaves Sensory Bin
Materials needed:
- Clean, dry leaves
- Small baskets or containers
- Scoops and spoons
- Tongs
- Pinecones
Collect a variety of fallen leaves and let children explore their different colours, shapes, sizes, and textures. Add scoops, tongs, and containers for extra fine-motor practice.
Learning opportunities: Color recognition, sorting, vocabulary, fine-motor skills, and nature exploration.
Tip: Use clean, dry leaves and supervise closely, especially with younger children who may put materials in their mouths.
2. Harvest Sensory Bin
Create a mini autumn harvest right in your sensory table!
Materials needed:
- Dry corn kernels or another age-appropriate sensory filler
- Small pumpkins
- Gourds
- Pinecones
- Wooden or plastic vegetables
- Scoops and cups
Children can pretend they’re harvesting crops, filling baskets, and sorting their autumn finds. Check out this fun bin idea from Busy Toddler for inspiration!
Try asking: “Which pumpkin is the biggest?” or “Can you find something orange?”
3. Pumpkin Scoop & Pour Bin
This autumn sensory activity is incredibly simple!
Materials needed:
- Dry oats, rice or other filler
- Small plastic pumpkins (check your local dollar store)
- Cups, spoons, and scoops (plastic or wooden work best)
Fill a bin with dry oats, rice, or another appropriate sensory filler and add small plastic pumpkins, cups, spoons, and scoops.
Encourage children to scoop the filler into different containers, transfer it between cups, and hide and find the pumpkins.
Learning opportunities: Counting, measuring, hand-eye coordination, and fine-motor development.
4. Apple Orchard Sensory Bin
Turn your sensory bin into a pretend apple orchard.
Materials needed:
- Red, green, and yellow plastic apples or large apple-shaped objects
- Shredded paper or another safe filler
- Small baskets
- Tongs
- Cups or containers
Children can “pick” apples, sort them by color, and fill their baskets. For an added learning activity, count the apples together or create simple patterns such as red-green-red-green.
5. Corn Harvest Bin
A corn-themed sensory bin is perfect for exploring an iconic fall crop.
Materials needed:
- Corn husks
- Corn cobs
- Scoops
- Small buckets
- Toy farm animals or tractors
Children can explore the textures of the husks and cobs while pretending to work on an autumn farm.
Extend the activity: Talk about where food comes from and how farmers harvest crops.
6. Woodland Animals Sensory Bin
Bring autumn’s woodland animals into your classroom!
Materials needed:
- Large plastic woodland animals
- Pinecones
- Large leaves
- Sticks
- Large stones
- A sensory filler such as shredded paper
Add squirrels, hedgehogs, foxes, or other woodland animals and encourage children to create a little autumn habitat.
Conversation starters:
“Where does the squirrel live?”
“What might the animals eat?”
“What happens to the trees in autumn?”
7. Autumn Colour Sorting Bin
This is an easy option when you want a quick setup with a learning focus.
Fill a bin with large autumn-coloured objects such as red, orange, yellow, and brown items. Add bowls or containers in matching colours. Ask children to find an object and place it into the correct colour container. It’s a simple way to combine sensory exploration with color recognition and sorting skills.
You can also introduce colors:
🟠 Orange
🟡 Yellow
🔴 Red
🟤 Brown
Check out this colorful Fall sensory bin for inspiration!
8. Fall Farm Sensory Bin
Create a mini fall farm using materials you already have in your classroom.
Materials needed:
- Dry oats or shredded paper
- Large toy farm animals
- Toy tractors
- Small baskets
- Scoops
- Pinecones or large natural materials
Let children scoop, pour, build, and create their own farm scenes while practising imaginative play.
Extend the learning: Count the animals, talk about farm life, or introduce new vocabulary such as harvest, crops, farmer, and barn.
Make Sensory Play Part of Your Autumn Routine
Sensory bins don’t need to be complicated to be valuable. A simple bin with a few seasonal materials can give children opportunities to explore textures, practise fine-motor skills, build vocabulary, develop early math concepts, and engage in imaginative play.
You can also switch materials throughout the season to keep familiar activities feeling new. Start with leaves and pinecones, move into apples and pumpkins, and finish the season with harvest and woodland themes.
Looking for more ways to plan and document learning? ChildFriendly Pro’s Learning Module helps daycare educators organize learning activities and track children’s development, making it easier to connect everyday activities like sensory play to your classroom’s learning goals.
