Our Story

I have spent more than ten years in public school classrooms watching children learn or struggle to. As an elementary educator with a degree in early childhood development, I know what the research says about how young children build the skills that last a lifetime. But it was my own daughter, Ellie, who showed me something no textbook ever could.

Ellie found her first sensory bin at two years old. What happened next stopped me in my tracks. The child who could not sit still for five minutes settled into quiet, focused, joyful exploration for the better part of an hour. She was sorting, counting, building, learning, and she had no idea. As a teacher, I recognised exactly what I was watching. As her mother, I was moved by it.

That experience sent me back to the classroom, this time as a co-op preschool teacher with a new mission. I began designing sensory bins the same way I had always designed lesson plans: backwards from the outcome. What skill does this child need to build? What experience gets them there? The bins I created weren't just filled with pretty things. Every element from the filler, the tools, to the figurines was chosen because it earned its place developmentally.

Ellie Bee Bins grew from those first bins. The name is hers. The mission is hers. She is the reason I know these products work not just because the data says so, but because I watched her grow through them, one scoop at a time.

I started this business as an educator in thought and a mother at heart. That is still exactly what I am. When you bring an Ellie Bee Bin into your home or classroom, you are getting years of teaching experience, a lifetime of loving one little girl, and the deep belief that the best learning never feels like learning at all.

Teacher Alyssa
Founder, Ellie Bee Bins

Elementary Educator · Preschool Teacher · Ellie's Mom