Welcome to the Forgotten ECE, the show where
before and after school educators, summer camp
and PD staff and CYWs have a place where they
are seen, heard and valued. I'm your host, Jamie
Wankler, and I'm so excited you're here. Welcome
back. Welcome back to the Forgotten ECE. Today
is an exciting day because I have brought you,
well, okay, combined. We have brought you Kayla
Snydal, all the way from Alberta, and she is
the founder of Capable Learners and operates
a home childcare center. She is an experienced
early childhood educator with over 15 years in
the field, and through her licensed family day
home, and her growing online platform. She supports
educators and parents with practical tools, meaningful
resources, and a strong belief in the power of
play. Kayla is passionate about advocating for
family child care programs and helping educators
feel seen, supported, and inspired as they build
quality early learning environments where children
thrive. Most recently, and I'm so excited to
announce, She has released her brand new ebook,
57 Sensory Bin Ideas, a resource designed to
help educators create simple, accessible, and
meaningful sensory experiences for all ages,
and get this, including school -aged children.
Yay! Welcome, Kayla. Hey, how's it going? I'm
so excited to be here this morning. Oh, so good.
Before we got on and started recording, we were
talking about the time difference because I always
forget there's a time difference. I don't know
why I think I live in this world that everyone
just has the same time, but they obviously don't.
Kelly, to start off... It would be nicer if we
did. Right? Everything would be so much easier.
Kelly, I just want to ask you your pronouns,
if you don't mind. She, her. Perfect. Just making
sure. First and foremost, congratulations on
releasing your new resource, 57 Sensory Bin Ideas.
What inspired you to create this ebook? I created
this ebook because I've seen so many educators
and parents feeling overwhelmed. And where do
I begin? What do I use? Where do I find stuff?
And I'm like, you know what? I've created hundreds
of sensory bins over my years. And I'm like,
I have a huge camera roll on my phone of all
the bins that I've made. And I'm like, I'm going
to break this down to make it simpler and manageable
for educators and parents and use this as an
inspiration guide. So it's not a complete recipe
book where do A, B, C, follow it to a T. It's,
oh, she did that. Let's do this. I have this
material. I have this material. And it's a starting
off point to inspire parents and educators to
bring sensory play into their world and into
their lives. Oh, that's incredible. And I love
that you have that adaptability involved in it
because not everyone's going to have the same
materials that you have. We're not going to be
able to find everything always the same. And
sometimes it's affordability, but you've considered
all of that in this great resource. And that's
the joy of sensory. It's a hunt for materials.
It's not a one and done. It's, ooh, this would
be great. I'm going to hold on to this until
I need it. And you never know when it's going
to spark an idea or interest. Oh, amazing. And
where, if you don't mind me asking, where do
you find most of your sensory bin materials?
So I love to thrift. I love Amazon, Team You.
Facebook Marketplace on Buy Nothing Groups is
another great place. Asking my family's estate
sales for like grandparents and stuff that are
moving. You can find the coolest trinkets and
like sifters and whisks and the neatest things
to add to sensory play. So I really gravitate
to my community when looking for materials. Oh,
I love that. That's so great. And it's a great
way to bring your community together to introduce
something great to the children and really use
other people's ideas and materials and bring
life back into the vintage stuff that we have
because the world is already full of so many
things. So it's nice that we're bringing life
back into that. Yeah. And like I always tell
people, make sure to check out the bags at Value
Village and Goodwill because you will find the
coolest things hidden in those bags. There might
be 90 % junk, but there might be one or two really
awesome things. So always check the bags. Oh,
I love that. That's so true. We also have a store
here. I don't know if Stratford still has it,
but it was like an, I wish I could remember the
name of it, but it was like an Amazon junk store.
So when people send the things back to Amazon,
you find it. And you can find these crazy pieces
in these containers that people just got rid
of. And you're like, I actually will take all
of these hinges or I will actually take all of
these doohickeys because I need it for child
care. Yeah, we have a store similar to that.
We have a it's a reuse store and it's more for
recyclables. But I found the coolest tubes and
tile pieces and carpet samples and the neatest
things there. So, yeah, definitely look for like
a reuse store. or like a hodgepodge lodge place
in your community because those can have lots
of great treasures. Oh, incredible. And thinking
about your family day home, I'm wondering what
gap you've noticed in the field, especially for
family day homes in before and after school and
educators that led you to develop these 57 ideas.
So I think the gap is family day homes are a
mixed age group. So during the day, you have
littles, you have the under five, sometimes one,
two year olds. And then after school, you have
the big kids and their interests, their abilities
or developments are different. So it's trying
to connect the two and set up a space that everybody
can thrive in. Being mindful of that, the older
kids need sensory play as well, but so do the
younger kids and just having materials that everybody
can use and learn from and engage with. Yes,
that is one thing I would love to chat a little
bit more is because obviously I love before and
after school care and there is a huge age gap
in that already from four till 12. And now you
throw a home day in the mix and it's all of a
sudden, like you said, one till 12 sometimes.
And that is a huge age gap. So how do you manage
that at home? And how do you ensure that your
programming is accessible and adaptable for children
of different age groups? Yeah, so I kind of deal
with this because my oldest is six years old.
So she's in school all day. But I do have to
find when she gets home, she needs activities.
She needs things to engage with. So just making
sure it might be that I have bins that come out
at certain times of the day. Say like Lego, if
I have really littles, I'm not going to have
the Lego out during the day. But at 3 .30 when
she gets home from school, I'll have the Lego
bin out. a design space for them where you can
use this material here where the babies aren't
going to access it, where they can't reach it.
And having just materials that you can grab and
are accessible to the kids whenever they need
them, but maybe not out in the open for everybody
to grab. And it really comes down to the space
and how you set up the classroom or your home
or whatever it may be. Yeah, that's a great point.
It also gives a sense of independence to your
older children because then they're in charge
of this and they know not to let the babies grab
it. They know not to let the younger kids get
involved and they have this own time for them
to kind of explore with stuff that's more developmentally
appropriate for them. Yeah, and allowing them
to have the autonomy over the space. So... I
have a pencil sharpener that's always out on
my craft counter and the older kids know they
can use that pencil sharpener whenever they need.
The younger, my two, three, four -year -old,
well, maybe not two, but my three, four -year
-olds also use it, but it's out and allowing
the children the autonomy to use these more risky
objects and materials also comes down to it.
Wow, awesome. And I'm wondering if there's any...
Help between the older kids and the younger kids
when it comes to things like your pencil sharpener
or for sensory bins and engaging the older kids,
engaging the younger kids in a play that might
need more help. Yeah, they are definitely leaders
and they model and... help in the space for sure.
Especially with like meal times and snack, the
older kids are helping bring the plates to the
table. They're setting up, they're assisting
with washing hands to make sure the line runs
smoothly. And as a in -home childcare, I'm a
one woman show. I don't have a second teacher.
I don't have other support. So it's a balance
between not putting responsibility on them too
much, but also giving them that responsibility
to help out when they are around. And on those
PD days and days that they're off school, it
is a real treat to have the older kids here because
I'm like, oh, I have an extra set of hands to
help get the pencil crayons down when we're doing
art or set up the table or assist in that lineup.
So it frees up a little bit of my time, but also
gives them that autonomy to be a leader and to
show responsibility and independence. Yeah, and
it's fun for them, right? Like it's fun for the
older kids to be like, ooh, I can do that. I
can be in charge or I can help out with this.
And it probably becomes like a game or an excitement
for them. Like, oh, on the PD day, I get to help
make the slime or on the PD day, I get to help
make this or I can open this bin. My oldest calls
it, she's like on anti -patrol. where she's watching
the little babies just so that I can get something
done. And she's like, I'll watch her. I'm on
anti -patrol. And it's quite cute because when
you have an 18 -month -old, they need eyes on
them all the time. But sometimes you need to
go to the bathroom for a quick 30 seconds. Literally.
Okay, literally. And it's not like a child care
center where you can call someone in to pop in.
You're like, no, okay. Everyone stay still for
five minutes. Like, just have to pee. Thinking
about your book and sensory materials, do you
have a favorite sensory bin from the ebook that
school -aged children tend to gravitate more
to? Ooh, definitely the messier ones. Also the
building and the setting up of them, not just
the ones where they remove the lids and they're
ready to go. They like that they've helped create
them. Recently at Halloween, we did monster mud
or ghost mud, sorry. And it's where we to rip
up toilet paper, we had to grade soap and then
we add water and then it makes this white, soft,
fluffy mud. And they loved it from start to finish.
And some kids are like this is they like the
ripping and the grading. But as soon as we added
water, they were out. But there was one kid that
was in there and they were building statues and
objects and just mixing it up. And the texture
changes so much over the play that. they just
stay engaged and want to do it more and more
and more. And I think the older kids definitely
love the process of the sensory bins that are
messier and that they get to build and create.
Oh my goodness. First of all, I am super excited
about that. So I will be checking that out in
your ebook because that messy play is all I'm
all for it. I love it. I love mud. I love messy.
I love it all. But you've just enlightened me
on that it's not just about, and we talk about
this a lot, it's not just about the product.
But even in sensory bins, it's not just about
the product. It's about the autonomy and that
ability to build the product and to make these
sensory bins together and to have their say in
it as well as being a part of the process. That's
so incredible. I love to utilize the children
when I'm sorting the sensory bins to make a new
one. Again, being a one -woman show, I do a lot
of that stuff during work hours because work
-life balance. So I will sort out the sensory
bin during the day and then bring in a new one.
And they love picking out all the pieces and
the gems and the loose parts and stuff. And it's
a great learning opportunity for them, but they
also get to help me at the same time. And it
makes them more excited to then further their
play within that sensory bin and try it in different
ways. Oh, that's incredible. And then they recognize
what materials we have because when I store my
sensory materials, I don't store my materials
as one bin. It's not, I don't have the ocean
bin, the farm bin. I sort it by materials so
that I can grab and interchange things as I need.
And then they get to see, oh, you have black
gems. That's great for bugs, but it's also great
for space when we do space when they're interested
in it. I love that they get to recognize what
materials we have when they're helping sort and
go through it. That contributes to this beautiful
emergent curriculum that we strive for where
the children are interested and we're pulling
their interest because then they know and they
can show that they're interested in certain things.
And now they're also incorporating what materials
you have to further those interests. That's incredible.
And I operate my day home as child led emergent
curriculum. So I don't have the themed bins necessarily
because I'm following the children's lead one
week. It could be like right now we're into gingerbread,
but next week it could be snowflakes or it could
be Santa Claus. Like we don't know going into
the holiday season or it could be ocean animals.
But then the next week it could be space and
their interests change so quickly. And I love
that the way I store my materials, I can support
that. Wow. Your passion is shining through and
I love it so much. This is making me so excited.
In terms of sensory play, how does it help regulation,
creativity, imagination, or even leadership in
these children? We touched a little bit on it,
but... Yeah, sensory play is such an important
part of early learning. It offers so many opportunities
for learning from fine motor, gross motor, self
-regulation, imagination, language skills, early
math and science skills. So there's so much value
in it that it can't be eliminated from our classrooms.
And it's one thing in the 15 years of doing child
care that has stayed consistent. Everywhere I've
worked from infants to school age, there's always
been a sensory bin and they have so much value
in them. And that's what I love about them is
that they are timeless and they're never going
to go away. And we need to bring it back to the
basics of having sensory bins into the classroom.
I agree. And you're taking it so much further
than just a sand in a water table. You're incorporating
all of these great needs and all of these great
abilities into your sensory bins, which is beautiful
because there's so much more to the world than
just sand and water. Absolutely. And yeah, when
you bring in, I call them my add -ons or add
-ins, when you bring in the add -ins and link
it to the children's... interests and what they're
into, the learning just is even more magical
because they've made that connection. And if
it's birds and they're seeing birds and nests
and different things in a sensory bin, they're
making that connection. And we know when children
make those connections through play, the neuropathways
are developing so much quicker. And that's what
I love about sensory bins. Yes, you're so right.
And then they can connect it to the real world
and what that looks like. And it does. It creates
this beautiful learning moment and they get so
much more out of it than just necessarily sitting
there and saying, okay, this is what a bird does
to build their nest. They get to actually live
it. Amazing. So what would you say to an educator
who is thinking that sensory bins are too messy
or too young or too much work for them? The joy
of sensory bins is they are adaptable to everybody,
every space, every classroom. Myself as an educator,
I have different thresholds. Some days I'm okay
if the sensory material is going around my classroom
and they're using it in the play kitchen, they're
using it in the train set. But then other days
I have a lower threshold where I'm like, you
know what? I don't want to be cleaning up rice
for the next two weeks. So I think knowing our
own thresholds when it comes to sensory play
and adapting the material. If you don't like
cleaning up rice, put a different basin that
is bigger so it's less messy. Also sensory bands
aren't a set it and forget it thing. They need
guidance and modeling and in the beginning you
might be doing those bigger materials so that
they're less messy and then work towards the
messier materials as the year goes on. But those
first few weeks, you're modeling. Materials stay
in the bin. We don't put materials in our mouth.
Just using that language with the children so
that they learn how to use our sensory bin responsibly
and appropriately for your classroom and your
space. And then... that you can then adapt it
more as it goes on into the messier play. So
don't start with ghost mud, your first sensory
bin. Start with something bigger. Pom -poms are
a great one. They are... far less messy than
rice or sand. But yeah, I wouldn't start with
the messiest thing. Work your way up to it. Model
to the children how to use the sensory bin, how
to use the materials, what your expectations
are, and you're allowed to set your expectations
for your classroom and your space. And that's
the joy of them is they are adaptable. If you're
working with young babies, you're being mindful
of what they're putting in their mouth and who's
using materials to taste stuff. You're going
to adapt it to them. Whereas school age kids,
you can do the messier, the smaller, the more
little items that can be for them. So that's
what I absolutely love about Sensory Place is
it's adaptable to anybody. But start with yourself
and what your thresholds are. Yes. Oh, that's
great advice. And I think that we put a lot of
pressure on, I'm just thinking about school age
right now, that they might not like things without
actually trying things to see if they like them.
And I think that school agers... deserve the
same attention that we would be giving to like
in our planning towards preschoolers or toddlers
or babies and I think they would be I think we
would be surprised as educators on how much they
would enjoy sensory bins or new sensory like
I bet your ghost mud went insane like I bet that
would be incredible to see for the school ages
and thinking about my school ages I'm like oh
my gosh like I kind of just want to try this
tomorrow because they would be they would be
so enthralled with that the messiness of it so
I think that just also giving children grace
and remembering that they are children and that
these things do bring them joy. Yeah. And if
you aren't doing ghost mud at Halloween, you
can call it clean mud. So maybe kids that are
more hesitant to get into messy play, you can
say it's clean mud and just use it that way.
For the school -agers, but yeah, school -age,
I worked in out -of -school care for three and
a half years. A lot of my early sensory bins
were with school -age kids. And it's interesting
to think back to how they used sensory bins compared
to my littles now. They were more into the imaginary,
turning it into coffee shops and building the
dramatic play around the sensory bin. Whereas
the younger kids are using it more for the scooping,
the pouring, the sorting. But both are beneficial
and both are so special to see. Incredible. And
when you worked in out -of -school care, did
you find it, how did you find it introducing
these sensory bins to the children? Did you find
you were met with apprehension from the kids?
Like, I'm not doing that. That's for babies.
Or did you find that they were excited? Or was
there a mix? No, I think they all loved sensory
play. And again, it's how you set up your classroom,
how you view the materials in your classroom.
Oftentimes, we know that out -of -school care
stuff is kind of stagnant. The materials stay
the same. The toys are usually the same, whereas
the sensory bins can change on a weekly basis.
So I felt that that kept the kids' interest a
lot more when I was building sensory bins for
them. I could adapt it more to their interests
in the classroom. Oh, amazing. Just going back
to your ebook, I'm kind of jumping all around,
but I'm just so excited to be talking to you
about this. Your ebook promises manageable, educator
-friendly ideas. What tips do you have for keeping
sensory play simple and low stress? I break sensory
materials down into three parts. So I have the
bases, what I'm using as the scooping, the pouring,
the mixing. That's the rice, the sand, the water,
different materials like that. And then I have
the add -ins. And the add -ins are what I use
to connect it to the children's interests. And
that could be the birds. That could be holidays.
So many different add -ins you can add. And then
the tools, the tweezers, the tongs, the sorting
trays. And by breaking down sensory bins into
those three parts, it makes it way more manageable
when you're building because you're like, okay,
I need a base. What are the children's interests?
How am I going to have the add -ins? And then
what tools can I put in to support the children's
learning and development? Oh, I love that. And
yeah, like every bin that I've seen, it has those
three parts. It has something like that they
can play in. And without one of those pieces,
it's kind of... It kind of falls short because
you can't scoop sand if you don't have a scoop
or you can't scoop sand if you don't have the
sand. So I like that. And it kind of breaks it
into these pieces where educators are like, OK,
first step, find a base. Second step, what are
the children interested in that I can throw into
this bin? And then how can I manipulate their
learning with materials, whether it's going to
be fine motor or gross motor skills that they're
working on? And the e -book is broken down. All
the lists of materials are broken down into that.
a base, an add -in and the tools. So if you don't
have sand, but you have pluffle or you have kinetic
sand instead of water, like you can adapt things.
Again, my add -ins are going to be very different
from your add -ins just because we all have different
materials. Same with the trays. You might, your
kids might be really into sorting. So you're
going to be putting more trays in. compared to
a classroom that they're really into the fine
motor of tongs and pinching and things like that.
So it's adaptable to anybody. Amazing. And what
I'm hearing is it's also so strongly based on
your classroom and what the children are working
on. So like you said, if they're not working
on the gross motor skills of dumping, if they
need more of those fine motor training, then
you're going to put in the tweezers or the tongs.
Exactly. It really is an inspiration guide for
educators and families just to go a starting
off point. And it gives you that ability to base
it around your children and the kids in your
care. And you know them best. And now Kayla and
I have only known each other for a short amount
of time. We met at the EC experience, which was
incredible. Ever since I met you, you've hyped
up sensory bins so much. There's not a point
that I'm like, oh, you know what? Can I have
a second guess? I fully believe that you know
why this matters so much to you, but I would
love if you could share that reason with me.
Is there a moment or is there while you're creating
this or while you're working on your business,
is there what spoke to you that said, this is
why sensory play matters so much? Sensory bins
matter. The biggest thing that I've taken away
over the last little while of looking back on
my career is sensory bins have been timeless.
They are something that has shown up in every
classroom I've worked in with every age ability
of children. And I think we see... the sensory
bins out and about now and they're in stores
there's so many small shops but they're Pinterest
worthy sensory bins and it makes it unattainable
and we think well we can't do that we don't have
that and I wanted to bring it back to the basics
of we don't need all the fancy stuff but sensory
play is so important for our children. And it
needs to be in every classroom. Every child needs
access to a sensory bin. And as educators, we
have the fancy, we do the elaborate, but just
bringing it back to the basics is awesome too.
Yeah, and it reminds you of why you do what you
do and why these sensory bins are important.
Absolutely. You're so right. These Pinterest
-worthy sensory bins, it makes it unattainable.
It makes it feel like, okay, I'm an educator.
I don't actually make that much money. I can't
go to Michael's. Bless Michael's. I love Michael's.
But I can't go to Michael's and buy these sensory
bins that are just going to be destroyed or the
children are going to be not interested in them
after a week. So then what? What do we do then?
Where I think your book really brings it home
to, nope, we can do this. And there's so many
great things that we can do on our own that we
don't have to go out and buy these quote unquote
expensive materials. Yeah. Absolutely. In your
15 years of wonderfulness, I'm sure a lot longer
than that, but 15 years of ECE, what one sensory
play moment that really stuck with you or revealed
something special about the children in your
care? Just to put it this way. One of my favorite
ones. was I used coffee beans in a sensory bin
and the smell of my classroom was to die for,
like just the best. But I had coffee beans and
I think I was mimicking like dirt was my intentions.
But the kids took, I had wood cookie blocks in
there and they were smashing the coffee beans
and grinding the coffee. And this was school
age. But to take a material that they probably
don't know what coffee beans are, but the aroma
and to crush them. And then they were turning
the blocks brown because of the coffee beans.
And this is probably 10 years ago. And I still
remember, I still can smell the smell of those
coffee beans and just how excited the kids were
to have that element in the sensory bin. Oh,
I love that so much. That would have taken your
learning on a completely different turn on what
you were planning on. And that's what makes it
so beautiful too, because then you're like, okay,
I guess we're learning about coffee and how it's
made because now the children are doing it themselves
in our sensory bins. Yeah. You would have had
some very fresh coffee. I'm a little jealous.
I would take that coffee over the mud coffee
that my toddlers make now. Fair, very fair. Oh
my goodness. If you can shift one mindset in
the field about sensory play, particularly for
school -age children, what would it be? School
-age children need and deserve sensory play just
as much as the young toddlers and preschoolers.
I love that. And I couldn't agree more. Wholeheartedly,
I agree with that. I think that it is an important
part of development. I think it's also an important
part for accessibility and inclusion. So that's
beautiful. Where can educators find your new
ebook and explore more of your resources through
Capable Learners? They can find it at capablelearners
.ca as well as I'm on Instagram at Capable Learners
Day Home. I share videos and tips and tricks
and just day in the lives of a day home operator.
So you can always find me on Instagram. And for
anybody listening today, if you want that ebook,
if you comment or use the code bins five, you
get $5 off the ebook. And I'm sure Jamie will
leave the link down below. Oh, I will. As well
as your contact information because your Instagram
gram has been popping. Okay, it's so great. I
love I love following along with all the amazing
things you do in your day home. And finally,
if there's anything else that you'd love listeners
to know, Before we wrap up this conversation,
is there anything you want to say or anything
else you want to talk about about sensory bins
or just anything? I think we hit most of it.
I think we nailed it. Amazing. Kayla, you are
so wonderful. This is incredible. And I am beyond
excited for what this brings to educators at
the level of sensory and to see everything else
that you come up with for this. I'm so excited
that sensory bins are going back to the basics,
but also that you're bringing so much more than
I even thought of to sensory bins. I was talking
to you, I got so many great ideas, and I am literally
excited to order your book right now because
it's so much fun for the children, and it also
brings a level of fun for the educators that
I think we all need right now. Well, thank you
so much. And I just love talking about sensory
bins and I can talk about them all day long.
So I'm excited for you to get your hands on it.
And I can't wait to see how you take my ideas
and adapt them to the kids you work with. Thank
you, Kayla. And thank you, listeners. Thank you
for tuning in to another day of the Forgotten
AC. And stay cool. And we will chat soon. Bye.
Thank you. Amazing listeners for your support.
Don't forget to follow me on Instagram at Miss
Jamie underscore R -E -C -E. Give a star rating
and leave a review. Have something you want to
hear about in relation to before and after school
programs or full day summer camp? DM me or comment.
Again, thank you so much and happy learning.