# Corn Meal Alphabet Sensory Bin > Fill a bin with cornmeal and add letters, scoops, cups and foam blocks for a toddler sensory bin. Use it for counting scoops, making letter-topped 'cupcakes', hunting for hidden letters and simple small-world stories. - URL: https://www.funlittles.com/sensory-activities-for-kids/ - Ages: 1–4 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: medium - Time: prep 10 min, activity 30 min - Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class · one batch serves about 3 kids - Skills: sensory-exploration, fine-motor, letter-recognition, counting, storytelling, pretend-play - Cautions: corn, ingestion-risk ## Materials (one batch) - Corn meal - 1 piece Large plastic bin or tub (household) - Foam, plastic and wooden letters - Shovels and scoops - Cups (household) - Foam blocks - Small toy people figures (optional) - 1 piece Sealed / airtight plastic bag or container (e.g. Ziploc) (household) ## Safety - Supervise sensory play at all times. Toddlers may try to taste the cornmeal. It is a play base, not a snack. - Small letters, small figures and other small props can be a choking hazard for young toddlers. Choose large pieces and watch closely. - Keep cornmeal away from eyes, and wash hands after play. - Store the cornmeal sealed between uses and smell-test it before every play session. Throw it out if it smells off or shows signs of insects. - Not suitable for children with a corn allergy. ## Before you start - Smell-test stored cornmeal before setting it out for play. - For peek-a-boo letters, hide a few letters under the cornmeal before the child arrives. ## Steps 1. Pour the corn meal into the bin and add just a few letters. 2. Let the child explore the corn meal on its own first: pour it, scoop it and run hands through it. 3. Add the scoops and cups. Scoop and pour, and count out loud each time a cup is filled. 4. Make corn meal cupcakes: fill the cups, call out a letter, then add it on top as a 'topping'. 5. Build simple structures with foam blocks and hide letters behind them. 6. Play peek-a-boo letters: the adult hides letters under the corn meal and the child finds and names them. 7. Pour corn meal through the hole of the letter 'O'. 8. Set up a simple small world with toy people and bring the letters into the story. 9. When play is over, remove the props and empty the corn meal into a sealed, airtight bag for next time. ## Tips - Start off with just a few letters. Let your toddler have her share of pouring and scooping the base before you throw in the letters and scoops. - Pouring corn meal through the hole of the letter 'O' never got old. After several play sessions she learnt the letter 'o'. All that pouring paid off. - We haven't had any trouble with ants or insects. Once the kids finish, I remove the props and keep the cornmeal in a sealed Ziploc. - I always do a 'smell test' before setting it out for play. Our first batch is still going strong! - With these simple activities we hit several areas of learning: math, early literacy and story-telling. ## FAQ **Won't the cornmeal attract ants or other insects?** The author hasn't had any trouble. She removes the props after play and stores the cornmeal in a sealed, airtight plastic bag such as a Ziploc. **How often can you reuse the cornmeal before throwing it away?** The author gives no set number. She keeps it sealed between uses and smell-tests it before every session, and her first batch was still going strong after months of play. ## The original post by TurkeyMom (2012) One of the easiest and best activities for toddlers is playing with sensory bins. For the last couple of months we have been playing with this corn meal toddler sensory bin. It is well-loved by my toddler that is surprising that I haven't written a post about it. - Corn meal - Foam, plastic and wooden letters - Shovels and scoops - Cups - Foam blocks I started off with just a few letters in the corn meal. Baby A, just like in any sensory bin had a fun time exploring just the base (corn meal). Once she had her share of pouring and scooping, I threw in the letters and scoops. ### **Some activities for toddlers to do in a sensory bin:** ### ### Scooping and pouring: Each time we filled a cup, we counted. ### **Make corn meal cupcakes : We scooped the corn meal and poured them into the cups and** **added letters to the top. Each time we called out the letter aloud before adding them as a** **topping. This reinforces alphabet recognition.** ### **Block Play: We built simple structures with foam blocks and hid the** **letters behind them.** ### ### **** ### ### ### **Play Peek-a-boo letters: Baby A will find the letters hidden by mommy under the corn meal.** **Again for letters recognition.** ### **Letter “O” play: Pouring corn meal through the hole of the letter never got old.** ### **Simple small world: Created a simple scene with the little people and incorporated the letters in the** **story.** ### At the end of the play session we had this. As you can see, with our simple activities we hit several areas of learning : math, early literacy, story-telling abilities. After several play sessions, she learnt the letter “o”. All that pouring corn meal through the hole paid off. My toddler loves sensory bins and we have played with couple of sensory bins earlier. Here is our [Fall Sensory Bin](https://www.funlittles.com/fall-sensory-bin/) an this one is our [Halloween sensory bin](https://www.funlittles.com/halloween-sensory-bin/). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Thanks for reading** **Please take a moment to comment** Thanks for stopping by our little space here. We encourage you to stick around and take a look at [**couple of**](https://www.funlittles.com/paint-with-spaghetti-brooms/) our [**popular posts.**](https://www.funlittles.com/animal-resist-painting/) --- ---