Sensory Bin Take 4: The Magnet Bin

Last week we received our fourth sensory bin, The Magnet Bin.

This bin has a bean base and includes 4 magnetic wands, a magnetic horseshoe and a bunch of little bits and pieces that may or may not be magnetic.  Samantha started off this evening by moving a bunch of pieces by hand into the foil bowl.  Up until now, this has pretty much been the only way she would play with the bin. However here and there, she would use one of the wands to pick things up.

Also included was a book on magnets, "What Makes a Magnet?" by Franklyn M. Branley.  Tonight was the first time we attempted to read it.  Unfortunately, Samantha was tired so we didn't get through much.  I read the whole thing after Sam went to bed and it's a great book.  It teaches kids how to make their own compass and gives suggestions for things you can do with magnets.  I have a feeling we will try making a compass soon!

After reading I let her do some free playing in the bin while using the wand.  She thought it was so neat to wave the wand over the top of the items and watch them "jump" up and attach themselves to the magnet.

We then went on a little scavenger hunt around the main level of our house.  We chose different items to touch our magnets to and see what stuck.  We found that our bar stools, door knobs, hinges, and of course the fridge stuck.  Our kitchen island and cabinet doors were not magnetic.

We rounded out the evening by doing a magnetic vs. non-magnetic worksheet.  Samantha liked letting me hold the wand and then she would choose different items from her bowl to put on the magnet.  She would then tell me if they "did stick" or "didn't stick" and attempt to put them in the right column.  This was still a little difficult for her but we will keep working on it because she really did enjoy it.

While Samantha was putting the two yellow magnets on the sheet, she discovered that they can repel!  She LOVED this and got a huge kick out of making the magnets chase each other.

This has been such a fun bin and I'm sad we only have a few more days with it.  I definitely think I'll need to go and get some magnetic wands of our own so we can continue enjoying magnets after our turn is up!