diy sensory table

What a beautiful day today.  The weather is GORGEOUS.  And (go figure) I feel like garbage...doing my best to fight off the beginnings of a cold.  So, we're taking it easy and not leaving the house today.  Instead of running our usual out-of-the-house errands, the bean and I are hanging out on the back patio playing with our sensory table.  This was a diy project of ours about a month ago.  So far it's been a big hit and I'm hoping to get alot of use out of it this summer.

Keep reading to see how we made it.  To call this a "tutorial" would be a bit of a stretch.  We didn't really have to do much.  It was really just taking stock of what we already had, thinking about what we wanted our sensory table to have, and figuring out the easiest way to put it all together.  And of course, I also searched Pinterest for diy sensory tables and found a lot of inspiration.

We took part of a plastic shelving unit that we've had for ages (seriously, this thing has moved with us a few times and has always served us well) and flipped it upside down.  The underside of the shelf has a lip on it and a raised channel running down the middle.  I figured this would be perfect for holding the bins I was planning on using.  The bins don't fit perfectly in the grid...they kind of tilt outward a little, which is perfect because it allows the kiddo a better reach.  And the lip around the edge keeps the bean from just pulling the bins off onto the ground.

Then I bought a few plastic shoebox bins to hold everything.  One has dry rice.  Another has dry beans.   I also use one to hold our digging and scooping toys.  This summer, we will fill another of the bins with water when we do water play.  You could also use sand, dry corn, whatever.  And the bins are great because when we are done playing, I just put the lids on and store them on the bottom shelf of our table.

Perfect!  And like I said, the bean loves it.   He also likes to help clean up when we're done playing!  Clean up with the sensory table is a breeze...all the rice and beans fall through grid of the shelves and we just sweep it up.  Easy...just the way I like my projects!