Earl the Squirrel: Book & Bin Sensory Play

Today I decided to head in a new direction with our sensory play. I am slowly observing that my son likes play activities to have a purpose or a sense of direction.  And he LOVES books! He always wants to be read to as well. So I decided it was time to combine a book with a fun sensory bin! To welcome Fall,  I chose a favorite book called Earl The Squirrel by Don Freeman.

Earl The Squirrel Sensory Play

FALL SENSORY PLAY

All of sudden the idea hit me when I randomly thought of this book, Earl The Squirrel. Maybe it was a recent walk in the forest! I was excited to have all of the items on hand including this nifty bin I found on clearance at the craft store (wishing I had gotten a few more now).

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Besides books, Liam also really enjoys finger puppets (well any soft animals really), but we have lots of these that we add to activities often. I had just purchased the leaves at the dollar store. What a find, 50 to a bag! Love it!

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I had recently picked up acorns on a walk in the forest yesterday and we always have nuts. I cut a red scarf from felt and grabbed a pair of tongs and a small basket!

1. READ EARL THE SQUIRREL

Here’s a first look at his invitation to play when he got home from school. Looks excited, doesn’t he? First things first, we read the book snuggled together on the couch.

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2. SEARCH AND FIND FOR ACORNS

Then he knew just what to do, find the nuts. Yipee he used the tongs. We counted and sorted.

We filled the basket with leaves and dumped it over the squirrel!

3.  FREE PLAY

There was some wonderful free play happening and little stories about looking for food. He used language from the book and retold the story in his own way! He even wanted me to read the story again so our new Earl the Squirrel could listen!

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4.  CRACKING NUTS

The fun didn’t stop. He wanted the nut cracker like the character in the book gave to Earl, so this lead to a whole new activity of cracking the nuts and looking at the different insides. Lucky for us, daddy came home from work just in time to get in on the fun and help us!

We looked at the acorn and the walnut and he ate a few walnuts but made sure he did not eat any acorns!

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5.  PAINT THE ACORNS

The fun continued and we got out the paints and painted with the nuts and nut shells. We chose fall friendly colors and rolled the shells around, painted them with brushes and crumbled leaves around them. He declared them little houses!

This turned into a wonderful afternoon activity. There will definitely be more book & bins to come!

EARL THE SQUIRREL: BOOK AND SENSORY BIN FOR FALL

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