Whoever thinks girls don’t enjoy playing with construction trucks and rocks is totally wrong!
My three-year-old daughter had a blast with this easy-to-put-together construction rock quarry sensory bin.
Every time I tried to put it away, she would ask for it back.
I can’t blame her! This construction rock quarry sensory bin was a lot of fun and used items we already had around the house!
Score!!
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Why Rocks for a Sensory Bin?
Do your kids like playing with rocks? One of my nephews loves rocks. He will spend hours collecting rocks in the backyard, and this last summer, he got my daughter into collecting rocks as well.
This sensory bin was partially inspired by him and partially a happy accident.
So I’ve had this construction-themed sensory bin idea for a while, but had trouble deciding what kind of filler to use.
Dirt? Black sand?
Eventually, I settled on using dry black beans as the filler to symbolize dirt. As we were setting up the sensory bin, my eyes landed on this pair of hurricane vases we had in the living room. They were filled with black rocks.
I immediately switched the beans for the black rocks, thinking my daughter might enjoy these more and they might STAY IN THE BIN better.
And guess what? I was right on both counts.
Whenever any rocks fell out of the bin, which was rare, I gently reminded Ella to keep the rocks in the bin, and she immediately took care of it.
That made using rocks totally worth it.
We’ve used popcorn, sand, and dry rice, and that gets everywhere. It’s hard for little hands to pick the grains back up and put them back in the bin, but the rocks were super easy for my toddler to pick up.
So if you were deciding to skip the rocks and go for beans or sand, stop right there. Give the river rocks a chance to win you over.
They got me 🙂
Supplies for Construction Rock Quarry Sensory Bin
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To set up the bin, I got out these items:
- Underbed storage bin
- Black construction paper (I used 12×12 scrapbook paper)
- Silver permanent marker
- Clear packing tape
I drew roads on the black construction paper with a silver Sharpie and taped it to the bottom of the storage bin with clear packing tape.
Clear packing tape is awesome for kids activities. You can use it to quickly “laminate” something, and it sticks so much better than regular tape.
Into the bin, I put
- Large black river rocks
- Small black river rocks
- Wooden blocks
- Plastic sandbox spade
- Wood construction tools
I also added construction trucks. We borrowed ours from a friend, so I don’t have links to the exact ones. These are my top two choices for construction trucks like the bulldozer and dump truck we used.
- John Deere trucks (green, but almost exactly the same size as ours)
- Take apart construction trucks (These are really cool. You get two truck bases and the attachments to make 6 different kinds of trucks, including a dump truck and bulldozer like ours. If your kids like to work with tools, they’ll love these.)
Playing with the Construction Rock Quarry Sensory Bin
As Ella eagerly watched me put the sensory bin together, I explained that construction workers get to drive special vehicles like the ones she was about to play with.
According to a very reliable source (my nephew), the truck with the big shovel in front of it is called a bulldozer and the truck with the box on top is a dump truck. I dutifully passed this information along to Ella.
Next, I showed her how each truck worked, and then sat back and let her figure out the rest by herself.
She loved using the shovel to fill up the dump truck and then dump all the rocks in a pile. She used the bulldozer to push rocks around.
We also talked about how construction workers use their trucks to build houses and other buildings.
Topics like these don’t naturally come up in everyday conversation, so it was fun (and challenging) to answer all of Ella’s questions about construction!
In response, Ella made a little stack of blocks she called a house.
And promptly bulldozed it five seconds later.
I hope the owners got out in time.
Make Your Own Construction Rock Quarry Sensory Bin
A sensory bin is a great opportunity for teaching new vocabulary that kids might not hear on a daily basis.
We used this construction rock quarry sensory bin to talk about building houses, construction workers, tools, and construction vehicles.
Construction Rock Quarry Sensory Bin
Supplies
- Underbed storage bin
- Black construction paper
- Silver or white permanent marker
- Small and larger black decorative river rocks
- Wooden blocks
- Construction trucks (dump truck and bulldozer)
- Plastic sandbox spade
- Wooden building tools
Instructions
- Draw roads on the black construction paper with a silver Sharpie and tape it to the bottom of the underbed storage bin with clear packing tape.
- Fill the bin with black river rocks. Add just enough to cover the bottom of the bin in a light layer.
- Next add wooden blocks, a spade, building tools, and the construction trucks.
- Let your child play! Use the opportunity to teach construction-related vocabulary, such as dump truck, bulldozer, shovel, and construction worker.
You can use black beans or sand instead of the rocks for this activity, but if you’ve never used rocks in a sensory bin before, I highly encourage it because they stay in the bin better and are easier for your child to pick up if they fall out.
Have fun building and bulldozing!
Other Activities You May Enjoy
Check out these other sensory play ideas on EYT.
