I put together a Valentine themed sensory bin for Adelaide last week. Here are some of the items I included (initially): dried beans (big and little lima beans and red beans), cookie cutters, bouncy balls, wooden lacing beads, textured balls, heart bracelets, glitter chipboard hearts. I ended up taking out the glittered chipboard because she wasn't interested and they were getting glitter on everything. I also took out a lot of the bracelets and just left a few. I also didn't even include the plastic bead necklaces because they didn't flow very well with the rest of the bin. She has loved playing with them in other ways though.
This was her first sensory bin so I wasn't exactly sure what she would enjoy. I expected her to be most interested in the "treasures" but it turns out she was much more interested in scooping the beans! She loved it. It didn't take too long for her to decide she wanted to throw it everywhere so that's when I ended the activity (much to her dismay.)
I brought it back out today and included a little heart shaped silicone ice cube tray (from Ikea) which she really enjoyed scooping into. And we didn't have any problems with her trying to make a mess today. I call that a success!
In other Valentine related news, I finally put out some of our Valentine books on Addie's book shelves.
Have you been doing any Valentine activities at home or in the classroom?
