What are brain bins?
Brain bins, morning tubs, STEM bins, oh my! These are all different names for basically the same thing, so choose whichever name you like best and let’s get to filling.
To answer the question, they are containers. Each is filled with one type of material (i.e. blocks or counting bears) which can either be used to build something or to complete STEM activities, like color sorting or patterns.
These hands-on bins are the perfect way to start your morning routine, but they can also be used for early finishers, easy substitute plans, partner work, and any other time where your students need a sensory break!
Morning tubs utilize materials that are easily accessible, and they can be tailored to suit any age level. You can start with what you have now and continue adding to them over time to surprise your students and keep them engaged.
I have been using brain bins for five years now, so I’m going to go ahead and share what I’ve learned so far!
Keep in mind my bins were not used by a large group of students; if you have a significant class size you may need to implement your own classroom management system to ensure everyone gets a chance with each bin.
These bins accomplish amazing things!
- Foster creativity & innovation
- Promote teamwork and communication
- Connect concepts to practical situations
- Encourage questioning and exploration
- Self-paced exploration
- Enhance self-esteem in problem-solving
- Cultivate interest in STEM fields early on
Working with a tight budget?
Loading up a classroom full of bins doesn’t have to cost you your first born.
Start small. Visit garage sales, thrift stores, and browse online marketplaces like Kijiji for the best deals on fillers. Search for local buy nothing or free cycle Facebook groups to get freebies people might otherwise just throw away. Don’t forget places like this that sell used home supplies. Hand your students washers and screws or a collection of handles and knobs and watch their minds go to work!
If you’re going to buy from Amazon, the best sales are available during Prime Days (July) and Black Friday (November).
Don’t pass over natural materials, either. Sticks, stones, and pinecones all make wonderful building materials, especially for horizontal or 2D/flat builds. If you’re worried about bugs just let your materials sit in a bowl of water + 1/2 cup vinegar for about 30 minutes.
Each bin is filled with a different type of play-based STEM material or toys for independent use. If you have a substantial amount of material, consider making these partner or small group bins.
Remember to include an assortment of colored bowls, muffin tins, ice cube trays, tongs, spoons, and other tools to help scoop, sort, and combine materials. You might also provide measuring tape since children love to see how tall they can build towers!
To take these to the next level and provide a bit more structure, add challenge cards or task cards to go along with each bin. Consider step-by-step builds, recipes, patterns, and sorting by color, size or shape.
You can take photographs of real objects or use clip art to create your own task cards, or save yourself some time and search TPT!
FYI – a popular storage option for task cards are photo boxes, like the rainbow ones found at Michaels. I just tuck my cards into the individual bins but I’ll probably switch over to this method once they get too beat up!
Without further adieu, here are 20 ideas for brain bins for your little learners!
- Blocks – don’t underestimate the power of this basic builder! Spice things up by adding new shapes like bridges and rounded blocks
- Link cubes
- Letter pieces
- Tangram shapes
- Counters – bears, dinos, transportation etc.
- Felt pieces + mini board – steal my shape pizza idea!
- Magnet tiles
- Magnet alphabet – doubles as daily word work!
- Gears
- Clay + Toothpicks – build 3D shapes
Wood letter pieces
Dino counters
- Grapat mandala loose parts – grab my recipe cards here!
- Unique connectors (see photo above)
- Lego – new builds already include step-by-step instruction manuals
- Dice + Dry Erase Markers/Board – students can roll and practice writing numbers, sort by color, sort by number of sides etc.
- Popsicle sticks & pom poms – individual
- Colored paper clips – kids love to link these; perfect for patterns
- Water + tools like droppers & syringes, add colors to water for seasonal activities
- Gears
- Beads + Pipe Cleaners
- Invitation to Create (more on this soon!)
Your students will love coming to school knowing they get time with the bins, and you’ll love having a few minutes of quiet to sip your morning coffee or prepare yourself for the day.