Passover Desert (Exodus) Sensory Bin

Let’s make another Passover sensory bin, this one featuring an Exodus or travelling the desert theme. When you’re done, check out my Purim sensory bin too! This post contains affiliate links.

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I’ve created sensory bins for Passover before – including this splitting the sea one, as well as a really fun ten plagues one.

But with the amount of prep and teaching that goes into Passover, it’s the perfect opportunity to switch up the sensory play weekly!

So the theme of this one is the Israelites traveling in the desert. Now, before I start, I will tell you: I make a small bin that is designed for one or two kids to play with at a time. That means that our space is limited and we need to prioritize. If you’re making larger classroom-sized bins, you can add so much more and I’ll drop a list at the end!

Meanwhile, I’m going to walk you through the process of creating an Exodus themed sensory bin.

The bin foundation

We always start with a big box, but of course if you have a dedicated sand table, you can use that. It’s a generic storage container on the flatter end of things that will fit what we need it to fit.

Next is our filler. This lays the foundation for the play-style of the bin. This one was a shoo-in for using natural colored Kinetic sand.

What we put inside

Next are the things inside that the kids play with. I divide these into two categories: tools that work with the filler, and props. You want some of each. In some bins they overlap, but in this particular one they are two distinct categories.

The people

A big feature of this bin was the people – in particular, the Passover peg dolls that I created to put inside.

In the past, I’ve used just the plain wood dolls to represent non-specific people but in this one I had fun including my artwork.

If you are not going to be creating these peg dolls but want alternatives, here are a few to try:

• I sell printable Passover puppets in my Etsy shop – you can use those. Get the full-color set as they can just be printed, cut out, and used. The cool part is that the stick will hold in the sand – just cut it shorter so it sits better.
• I’ve seen in the past Pharaoh LEGO figures – a really cool addition thanks to the imprints it makes
• Commission an Etsy artist to make peg dolls for you – it might cost quite a bit but it’ll feel like a keepsake that you can use year after year in different applications.
• You can use any toy figurines and just call them Israelites. Find one with a beard for Moses…

More props

To bring the various story of the exodus to life, I added some more relevant props – again, be creative, find what works best.

First, I “sourced” this huge rock from the great outdoors for the one that Moses hit for water. I forgot to include the stick – oops! Just add any small twig from outside.

As I share the details of this Passover sensory bin, you’ll notice that I’m trying to include as much texture as possible.

For Manna, I included pom poms. Both my middle kids (Y, age 8, and A, age 4 – who’s the “tester” of this bin) LOVE pom poms. It’s soft, and it’s cozy.

I used white and beige pom poms in both plain and sparkly varieties. If you are purchasing special for the bin, I do think that the tinsel pom poms have more of a fun vibe that gives kids the excitement of the fantasy of the Manna – that sparks their wildest imagination with their “taste like anything” feature.

Now add in tools. Sometimes we “theme” the tools, sometimes we don’t, and in this case, I chose not to. I just pulled out a small selection of our best Kinetic Sand tools that we have from our odd assorted kits from over the years.

And finally, some PolyFil fiber makes for the cloud that led them by day.

More tips & tricks

There are lots more things that you can add to an Exodus themed Passover sensory bin. Some I considered, some I just didn’t have space for.

Here are some ideas you can try if they work for you.

• Fire by night – Since they were led by a fire by night, you an add that too. I didn’t have a standout idea for it – and ran out of space – so I ditched it.
• Water – to incorporate the sea behind them, or the water coming from the rock, you can use washable sensory sand and add a small bit of water. Make sure everything inside is allowed to get wet and prepare for some fun mess.
• Desert props – I do kind of regret not having space for desert props, such as small cacti and possibly additional “normal” sized gravel or rocks.
• Desert animals – I also considered adding toy desert animals, but again, I prioritized the tools for space.
• Tents, flags – In a larger bin, mocking up the encampment of the tribes with more neutral/vague props can be fun and create more of a “small world”.

Got any more ideas to add to an Exodus/Desert themed Passover sensory bin? Comment below!