Learning the alphabet doesn’t have to mean worksheets and flashcards. Some of the best learning happens when kids are playing and using their hands. This Easter Egg ABC Hunt Sensory Bin turns early literacy into an exciting hands-on activity. As kiddos dig, scoop, and search through green dyed rice, they uncover hidden letters and match them to the letters on colorful Easter eggs.

Small children learn by playing. Play learning releases dopamine which helps with retention and fosters a lifelong love of learning. Sensory play engages multiple senses at once, which helps children remember what they’re learning and stay focused longer. Scooping and digging strengthen fine motor skills, while the letter hunt encourages early alphabet recognition and problem solving skills.

This sensory bin makes learning the ABCs feel like a game. Your little ones will love the excitement of discovering letters buried in the “grass” and matching them to the eggs. It’s a simple, engaging way to combine sensory play and early literacy while bringing a little extra springtime fun to learning.

a small toddler hand uses a yellow plastic shovel to dig the letter g out of a tub of green rice

How To Make An Easter Egg ABC Hunt Sensory Bin

Make Your Rice The Night Before

1. Add 5 cups of rice, or however much you need to fill your sensory bin, to a gallon sized ziploc bag.

2. Add green food coloring to your rice to make it resemble grass. I used approximately 75 drops of green food coloring for 5 cups of rice.

3. Close the bag of rice. Shake and knead the rice in the bag until the food coloring is evenly distributed. Continue adding food coloring if necessary until you reach your desired hue.

a gallon sized ziploc bag filled with green rice sits on a countertop

4. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Spread your rice evenly over the parchment paper and allow the dry overnight.

green dyed rice spread out on parchment paper

Assembling Your Easter Egg ABC Hunt Sensory Bin

5. Assemble 26 large Easter eggs. On the top of each egg write a capital letter for each letter of the alphabet using a permanent marker. Write the corresponding lowercase letter on the bottom of each egg. Add your eggs to a tub or basket.

a bucket full of plastic easter eggs with individual letters on the alphabet written on each egg in sharpie

6. Pour your green rice into a separate tub or bin. Hide the letters from an alphabet puzzle in the rice.

puzzle pieces letters buried in green dyed rice in a red tub

7. Equip your sensory bin with tools such as a small shovel, tongs, and a basting brush for scooping, digging, and brushing to uncover the letters and develop find motor skills.

a red tub filled with green rice has alphabet puzzle letter buried in it. a basting brush, a small plastic shovel, and a pair of purple tongs are propped up on the back of the tub.

8. As your little one finds a letter, help them match it with the Easter egg that has the matching letter. Put the letter in the Easter egg, set it aside in an Easter basket, and continue looking for the next letter.

an easter egg with the letter y written on it sits in a bed of green dyed rice. inside the egg is a letter y puzzle piece.

Other Ways To Play

Match the top and bottom eggs by finding the matching uppercase and lowercase letters.

Use the eggs to scoop and play in the rice.

Feedback

Did you create this sensory bin for your pre-school aged kiddos? Let me know all about the fun in the comments below!

a sensory table with two buckets. the left bucket is filled with colorful easter eggs with individual letters of the alphabet written on each egg. the right bucket is filled with green dyed rice and letters from an alphabet puzzle. purple tongs, a yellow basting brush, and a small plastic yellow shovel are set up as tools to dig letters out of the rice.

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