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I believe strongly in the value and importance of sensory play, and I have always enjoyed putting together sensory bins for my kids. I actually hadn’t put together a themed sensory bin for my kids in quite a while, so it was a lot of fun to throw this Valentine sensory bin together for them! I love to watch how they engage with the materials in sometimes unexpected ways. I also enjoy seeing their creativity and imagination in action.
Note: You can find this and other Valentine activities on my Valentine activities for kids page.
I decided to keep this bin on the simple side. All of the materials I used are things I already had laying around the house, which included:
- Dried rice dyed pink using liquid watercolors
- Pink and purple heart erasers
- Red and white pipe cleaner
hearts
- Two white pails filled with red and white pipe cleaner
- Two silicone baking cups
filled with red, pink, and white pom poms
I also provided some tools for my kids to use while playing with the bin:
- Plastic bowls
- Aluminum scoops
- Measuring spoons
- Scissor scoops
(link is for product similar but not identical to ours)
When they kids began playing, they each took over one of the white pails.
My son declared that he was filling his pail with candy for me to eat.
My daughter decided to fill her pail with rice and stick the pipe cleaners in.
She worked on her fine motor skills with the scissor scoops.
She was determined to fill her pail to the brim with “sugar candy.”
After a while, my son became intrigued by the pipe cleaner hearts I had made, and decided he wanted to make his own.
Using the pipe cleaners provided in the pail, he managed to fashion a little heart.
He also kindly made a ring for his sister.
All in all, this Valentine sensory bin was a big success. My kids loved it, it kept them engaged for quite a long time, and they got to practice all sorts of wonderful fine motor, communication, and imagination skills while playing with it!
More Valentine’s Day learning resources
More Valentine posts from Gift of Curiosity:
That looks like a lot of fun!! Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!
I’ve never seen the scissor scoop! That’s really neat!!!!
Scissor scoops are such fun, and they help prepare kids to use real scissors too!
This is a great sensory bin!
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