Our Story

Hi, there! I’m Alyssa. I’ve spent more than ten years in public school classrooms watching children learn or struggle to, as a result of missing fundamental skills. As an elementary educator with a degree in early childhood development, I know what the research says about how children build the skills that last a lifetime within those ever important toddler years. 

 It’s harder than ever being a parent in today’s world. We are all just doing our very best. I knew that children were missing some of the most important skills to be successful in grade school because their parents just needed some time to breathe, or to make dinner, or to put their younger sibling down for a nap and the easiest thing to do to help accomplish that task is to hand their kiddo a tablet. It works. You’re able to get what you need to do-done. But, there are many opportunities your child misses out on when this happens. Language development, patience, imagination, fine motor skills, resilience, dexterity, independence, focus, emotional regulation-all of these things come to mind when thinking of the deficits I was seeing in my students.

Ellie stumbled upon her first sensory bin at two years old. I had stepped away from teaching for a bit to focus on her. What happened next made my mind race. The child who could not sit still for five minutes settled into quiet, focused, and joyful exploration for the better part of an hour. She was sorting, counting, building, learning, and she had no idea. As a teacher, I recognized exactly what I was watching. As her mother, I was elated. Remember those deficits I mentioned earlier?

That experience mixed with my joy for teaching sent me back to the classroom, this time as a co-op preschool teacher with a new mission. Help other parents raise resilient, able, kind, and independent children. I began planning sensory bins the same way I had always designed lesson plans: for the outcome. What skill does this child need to build? What experience gets them there? What conversations would they be having with their classmates while playing? The bins I created weren't just filled with cute 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 but the mission is mine. She is the reason I know these products work not just because the data says so, but because I’ve watched her grow through them, one bin at a time.

I started this business as an educator in mind 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, curated cuteness, 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