Edible Ocean Sensory Bin with Jello
Are you looking for a fun summer sensory bin to teach your little one all about the beach and ocean? If so, this Edible Ocean Sensory Bin, made using my taste-safe sand recipe and jello, is for you! My ocean themed sensory bin includes a number of ocean animals, as well as the beach and water.
Low-Prep, Budget-Friendly, and Easy to create, I made this Ocean Sensory Bin this weekend for my kids to play with whilst I got on with some chores.
So long as you remember to set the jello (jelly) overnight then the preparation for this activity on the day takes about 5 minutes! Now that’s my kind of activity!

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An Ocean Sensory Bin is a great activity for toddlers and preschoolers but, to be honest, even my 6 year old and 8 year old enjoyed playing with this one! You can use it to teach about the ocean in your classroom, or home school, or just set it up as a fun, imaginative play activity for your child.
I share more Edible Sensory Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers here.
What you need for your Edible Ocean Sensory Bin
- A Sensory Bin or a Tuff Tray, or Sensory Table, like these options from Amazon.
- Blue Jello (Jelly for the British among us!)
- Rice Crispies Cereal (Or another easily blended cereal of choice)
- A Blender
- Ocean Animals, like these from Amazon

1. Set the Jello (Jelly)
The night before you plan to do this activity make the blue jello, following the instructions on the pack. Set it in your sensory bin or another container that you can easily transfer it out of the next day.
I tilted the sensory bin slightly when I left it in the fridge to set overnight, by placing a small wedge of cheese under it at one end. This helped to keep the majority of the jello at one end, so that the other end would be free to add the sand to the next morning.
This is the only step where you need to plan ahead. The rest of this sensory bin can be set up in about 5 minutes just before you use it.

Edible Sand Recipe
I created this Edible Sand recipe as my son used to just love putting everything in his mouth as a toddler and preschooler.
With this recipe you can relax and not worry about them having a taste whilst they play.
To make this Edible Sand, I simply grabbed some rice crispies cereal and put it in the blender. I blended it until it was a fine sand consistency.
And that’s it! Super simple. Cheerio’s and other cereals also work for this if you don’t have rice crispies in your house.
If you like this fun edible sand recipe, you can find more Edible Sensory Activities here.

Assembling your Ocean Themed Sensory Bin
Now its assembly time!
I simply tipped my edible sand onto one end of my blue ocean jello and then added the ocean animals onto the beach and into the ocean.
There are two ways you can do this. You can scrunch up the jello to make rough waves and then pop the animals in amongst it. Or you can set the animals into the jello so the ocean appears smooth and the animals need to be rescued!
And that’s it! Super simple, right?
My kid’s love playing with this one. I hope yours enjoy it just as much!