Sensory Tub

I saw a friend post pictures of her preschoolers playing in a plastic clear tote filled with water and floating penguins toys.   It was labeled a 'Sensory tub'.  Well, in all my 6 years of home school, I had never seen that! How did I miss that?? 

I didn't have a plastic tote to spare, so I used  a large black metal one.

Added anything we had on hand...rice, decorative sand, marbles, small seashells, smooth stones, sunflowers seeds (in the shell), small plastic animals, and croutons.  Have since removed the croutons as the kids wanted to keep eating them...  I don't have a picture of it, but I also gave them small tin pails to play with from our Blueberries for Sal book and activities.  So they were able to hear the different sounds of each object as the were scooped or placed into the pails.  It was great for all the senses!  As well as hand eye coordination.  Then they had the idea to get their magnifying lenses out.  I meant it for my 2 and 4 yr old, but the 6 and 8 yr old couldn't keep their hands out of it.
It kept them occupied for hours! 
My husband didnt care for it much because of the mess...so we only use it when he is isnt home:)
Sometimes the kids get too zealous and the contents end up out of the basin...  So now I put a towel down for easy cleanup.