Instead of painting a snowman today, it was time for a 3-D snowman that was all about sensory play. This little sensory bin of winter goodies was pure fun for Veronika.

To set it up, you’ll need an empty plastic bottle. One with a wide opening will work better than a narrow-necked water bottle in this case; we used a dry-roasted peanut jar.

I added two wiggle eyes and 3 black buttons with hot glue, attaching them roughly where they would be a snowman’s body, then twisted on a sparkly green chenille stem for a scarf and drew a carrot nose with orange marker.

Next, I added lots of cotton balls to the tray. Once stuffed inside the bottle, it looks just like a little snowman, and one that will never melt!

The fun (and challenge!) now was for Veronika to put the cotton in and then take it back out again. I added chopsticks to the tray for her to use as a tool (tongs would be great, too).

But after a few tries, she preferred to use her fingers.

Or just to upend the bottle and dump it!

To round out the tray, I added a collection of plastic arctic animals and lots more black buttons.

After she tired of transferring cotton balls in and out of the jar, she loved putting the little animals inside and then practicing screwing on and off the lid.

All in all, this was great little bin full of wintry fun.