Christmas “Village” Sensory Bin for Preschoolers
This is the first year that I’ve made a Christmas village sensory bin for the Hooligans. It all started when we set up my formal village the other day.
Our village is usually one of the first things that I set up as the Christmas season approaches.
I was really late pulling the village out this year though. I set my tree up a few weeks ago, after we’d had a little dusting of snow, and then the sun came out, and melted the snow, the weather turned unseasonably mild, and decorating the house just sort of fell by the wayside.
It just hasn’t FELT like Christmas with the weather being as warm and wonderful as it has been.
Today I decided we’d better get at it!! I can’t believe Christmas is less than two weeks away!
I hauled the rubbermaid “village” container up from the cold-room this morning, and the Hooligans had a wonderful time investigating all the houses, the people and the different bits and pieces that go along with it. 
I always set it all up on top of my piano. It’s too high for them to get at it, we we started by setting all the pieces out on the piano bench, and then one by one, they handed me everything until we had it all put together. While they were having snack, I rigged up all the extension cords, and then we had a countdown, and I hit the lights. Oooooh, Aaaaaah!
Last night, I was at my mom’s, and as luck would have it, she was scaling her Christmas village back a bit, and she gave me a bag of small houses and some accessories that she no longer wanted. 
Today we used the pieces to create a Christmas Village Sensory Bin, using white rice for the base, some beads, buttons and cotton balls.
We placed all of the village houses and people downs in the bin.
The Hooligans now have a Christmas village of their own to play with!
It was a big hit! 
Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
