Edible Kandinsky-Inspired Sensory Bin

This post was contributed by Emma of Adventures of Adam.

An Edible Sensory Bin for Exploring Art History!

We love sensory play at Adventures of Adam and are always looking for ways to incorporate food into our sensory bins. We recently experimented with dyeing desiccated coconut in our Ice-Cream Play. It was such a success that I decided to take it one step further and use it in a sensory bin to introduce my three year old to my favorite artwork by 20th century Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky – “Squares with Concentric Circles.” Check out how we used our dyed coconut to create an edible Kandinsky-inspired sensory bin…

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Our Edible Kandinsky-Inspired Sensory Bin

Wassily Kandinsky’s Art:

Before you begin, take some time to learn more about Kandinsky and his art with your child.  Find out about the artist and see more of his art here.

Wassily Kandinsky, 1913, Color Study: Squares with Concentric Circles

Dyeing the Coconut:

I chose 6 colors of Wilton Food Coloring Gel to dye the desiccated coconut. I added 5ml of colored water at a time and mixed it thoroughly until the coconut had an even color throughout. I left the coconut to dry overnight, although it wasn’t particularly wet.

Setting Up the Sensory Bin:

I used a large white tray to contain our Kandinsky coconut masterpiece.

I tipped one container of colored coconut at a time to form the six different colored squares. A dry paint brush was useful to brush away any stray coconut pieces. I then sprinkled the dyed coconut by hand to create three concentric circles inside each square.

Adam started to explore the Kandinsky sensory bin whilst it stood on our sensory bin stand.

However, after a few moments of exploring the coconut he brought across our Tuff Spot Sensory Tray and asked to sit down to play. He traced each circle with his finger before exploring the texture of the coconut with the palms of his hands. He loved to point and name each color as well as declaring that he was color mixing as he combined the circles together.

It wasn’t long before Adam was transferring the coconut from the sensory bin to the Tuff Spot. He told me he was swishing the circles around until they disappeared.

We loved our Kandinsky sensory bin so much that we carried on the play with another Coconut Sensory Bin!

Have you ever integrated art history and sensory play?  What is your favorite sensory bin material?  Tell us about it in the comments below!

Emma is a trained primary school teacher and mum to Adam who lives in Norfolk.  She shares creative play and sensory ideas at Adventures of Adam.  You can also follow her and Adam’s adventures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

More Sensory Bin Inspiration from Adventures of Adam:

Sensory Play Ideas from B-Inspired Mama:

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This post may contain affiliate links.  Please see my disclosure policy.