Bernardsville Mom Starts Itty Bitty Bins To Encourage Sensory Play In Children

BERNARDSVILLE, NJ — Always a teacher at heart, Bernardsville local and mom Amanda Gardner is continuing to encourage sensory play in children through her unique business Itty Bitty Bins.

Gardner was a teacher for 12 years where she taught first grade in Mine Hill and special education preschool in Long Hill until the COVID pandemic hit.

She ended up staying home with her son Declan and found out shortly after she was pregnant with her second son Murphy.

"I had two babies that were 16 months apart. And I just thought, 'What can I do? What is a creative outlet, since I'm here at home.' I still had that teacher in me," said Gardner.

She used to make sensory bins for her students when she was teaching, and they loved them.

"So I started making them for my boys, just to see how they responded to it, and they loved it. And then I started making it for family members and friends, and they all seemed to really enjoy it," said Gardner.

That prompted her to take a chance and see if she could make a business out of it. She launched Itty Bitty Bins and began selling them privately on Etsy and in local shops such as the Rebecca Collection in Bernardsville and the Learning Express in Morristown.

Eventually, Gardner started venturing out and doing Itty Bitty tables for birthday parties and events and that snowballed into her running her small business full time.

"It's been really fun," said Gardner.

Most of her business stems from her custom bins used as party favors.

"They pick whichever theme they'd like, and then I make custom jars for them, and I try to work with their budgets to try to help out as much as possible," said Gardner.

Gardner said her bins are not only unique and fun favors for children but they offer a learning element.

"It's really good for fine, gross motor skills," said Gardner.

She said a lot of people may not realize that her jars are not just Play-Doh with trinkets inside.

"It's actually a learning toy, because it teaches them a new language," said Gardner.

When Declan was younger, Gardner would pull different things from the jars, and then have him tell her what they are "which helps develop new language too."

All orders can be picked up in Bedminster or shipped. She has had a lot of orders to the states in the Mid-West, California, and Texas.

For more information on Itty Bitty Bins or to order visit etsy.com/shop/IttyBittyBins or instagram.com/ittybittybins or facebook.com.

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