A Fun Race Car Color Sorting Sensory Bin with FREE Color Mats!

This Cars Themed Color Sorting Sensory Bin post is sponsored by Mattel. All opinions are my own. See my disclosure policy for more information.

Are your kiddos Cars fans like me? I mean… my kids?!

The Disney-Pixar Cars movies are regulars in the movie rotation at our house. And with that likable Lightning McQueen, his goofy Mater sidekick, his silly Pit Crew on wheels, and all the great life-lessons for McQueen, I’m pretty fond of the movies too. (And I know y’all can relate to not being so excited about watching some other animated kids’ movies over and over… and over again.)

But to top off the movies, Cars toys and collectibles are a hit with my kids, too!

Colorful race cars and playsets perfect for inspiring imaginative play and learning. I can almost see the cogs turning and connections forming in my kids’ brains while they set up playtime race tracks, act out exciting movie-inspired stories, and inspect play set mechanisms that launch their race cars across the room.

As you can imagine, my kids are loving their new Cars 3 toys and collectibles!

And the new Cars 3 toys and collectibles, found at Walmart, are super-fun just as they are. But as I watched my kids play, I was inspired by the bright colors of those cool Cars characters. And got to thinking they would be the perfect addition to a fun color sorting activity. 

Here’s what I came up with…

A Cars Themed Color Sorting Sensory Bin!

(Psst… You can download and print the Car Color Sorting Mats below!)

My kids have outgrown color learning activities, but sensory bins are always a hit. And sensory bins with Cars toys are even better! So I worked on making a Cars-themed Sensory Bin for them while they explored their new Cars 3 toys.

First, The Kids’ New Cars 3 Fun…

As I mentioned earlier, all three of my kids, ages 6, 9, and 11, enjoyed playing with their new Cars 3 playsets and collectibles.

Check out J.C. launching McQueen over those crazy tractors with the new Smokey’s Tractor Challenge Playset!

The Cars 3 toys had them cooperating, collaborating, imagining, story-telling, problem-solving, and even learning some basic physics! 

Priscilla loved reenacting and elaborating on Cars-inspired stories using the Mac Hauler and Jackson Storm’s Transforming Hauler Playsets.

And we (yes, even I!) particularly loved racing the Cars from the Disney-Pixar Cars 3 1:55 Scale Vehicles Set by launching them out of the Disney-Pixar Cars Ultimate Launcher and Carrying Case.

Start your engines!

And they’re off! 

More about our favorite new Cars 3 toys:

• Disney-Pixar Cars Smokey’s Tractor Challenge Playset – which can be configured in multiple ways for varying ways to play, but ultimately has a super-cool launcher that shoots McQueen through the air and over those pesky moving tractors! 
• Disney-Pixar Cars Mac Hauler – which not only hauls Lightning McQueen anywhere a kid can imagine, but also unfolds to reveal multiple play areas just like McQueen’s fully-loaded hauler in the movies! This one inspired lots of imaginative play for my kids. 
• Disney Pixar Cars 3 Jackson Storm’s Transforming Hauler Playset – which, like McQueen’s hauler, also transformed from a simple hauler to reveal multiple play areas simulating Jackson Storm’s state-of-the-art training center in the movies. My kids had this one hooked onto the Mac Hauler for loads of Cars 3 movie play! 
• Disney Pixar Cars Ultimate Launcher and Carrying Case – which is crazy-fun to use for launching races across the living room but will also come in handy for storing and taking our new Cars Vehicles along with us on vacations and play dates. 

Make sure to visit your local Walmart to get some Cars 3 awesomeness for your kids!

Now, On to the Cars Themed Color Sorting Sensory Bin!

Sensory bins are always a great early learning tool as they’re so easy to throw together. There is no “right” or “wrong” way to make a sensory bin.

For our Race Car Color Sorting Sensory Bin, I just scoured my arts and crafts supplies for colorful objects to include. Anything works really, but it’s a plus if objects vary in texture to add to the sensory experience. And letters or some sort (i.e. letter beads, letter magnets) are great too, to add an element of early literacy to the kids’ play.

What I Used for the Car Color Sorting Sensory Bin:

• shallow plastic storage bin
• 3 lbs. dried black beans
• pom poms (in the 6 colors of the rainbow)
• googly eyes (in the 6 colors of the rainbow)
• small link manipulatives/toys (in the 6 colors of the rainbow)
• plastic letter beads (in the 6 colors of the rainbow)
• Disney-Pixar Cars 3 1:55 Scale Vehicles
• Printed Race Car Color Sorting Mats (one for each of the 6 colors of the rainbow)

How to Make your Race Car Color Sorting Sensory Bin:

Dried bean sensory bins are great for young kids. They offer tactile sensory input when fingers are run through them, which is very soothing and calming for many kids. (Win!) 

So you’ll just want to start with a dried black bean “base” in your bin, then add whatever red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple small objects you can find around the house (or at Walmart when you head there for your Cars 3 toys).

How to Use the Sensory Bin & Color Sorting Mats

Once your colorful car sensory bin is ready, you’ll just want to print and place the Race Car Color Sorting Mats around it.

Grab your FREE Race Car Color Sorting Mats HERE:

Each Race Car Color Sorting Mat features a race car in one of the six colors of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple), with its color’s name on it. So preschoolers can work on simple color learning and recognition while older kids can practice color words.

Kids will love sifting through the sensory bin (getting that awesome tactile sensory input) to find matching-colored objects to place on each of the Race Car Color Mats. And of course, they get to drive their new Cars 3 toys onto their matching color mats too! 

Thanks for the fun and learning inspiration, Mattel!

Don’t Forget Your FREE Race Car Color Sorting Mats:

Won’t your kids LOVE a Cars 3-themed day of play and learning?! Mine sure did! 

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More Color Sorting Fun for Kids:

• Learning Colors – Olympic Style
• Easter Egg Color Sorting
• Muffin Tin Froot Loops Cereal Color Sorting Snack
• Fun Activities for Learning Colors

This post is sponsored by Mattel. All opinions are my own. See my disclosure policy for more information.