Gems and Hearts Valentine’s Sensory Bin

Get ready to spread the love with a hands-on Valentine’s sensory bin activity that’s perfect for preschoolers! This heart-filled bin is loaded with sparkling acrylic hearts, gems, and large acrylic diamonds that will captivate your little ones and will pair well with other Valentine activities for preschoolers.

Sensory bins like this one are fantastic tools for nurturing fine motor skills, expanding language abilities, encouraging cooperation through turn-taking, and providing a feast for the senses.

We’ve heard from countless readers who’ve seen the positive impact these activities have on their children’s learning, and we’re excited to add this to our preschool lesson plans.

Prepare for a celebration of affection with our Valentine’s sensory bin activity designed specifically for the curious and active preschool crowd! Adorned with an array of twinkling acrylic hearts, shimmering gems, and oversized acrylic diamonds, this sensory bin promises to enchant your young ones and hold their attention.

Seriously, preschoolers love the gems in this sensory bin! T

Sensory bins, especially one as inviting as our Valentine-themed bin, are excellent for developing essential skills in preschoolers. For example:

• They provide a rich environment that helps little hands strengthen fine motor capabilities while engaging in the scooping, sorting, and sifting of shiny objects.
• They serve as an interactive platform for language development as children articulate their thoughts and describe their tactile sensations.
• Cooperative play is naturally promoted as they learn to take turns and share their discoveries with peers.

The impact of such sensory-based activities on early childhood education is well-documented and evidenced.

• 10 Benefits of Sensory Play in Early Childhood
• The Importance of Sensory Development in Early Childhood
• The Amazing Benefits of Sensory Play in Preschool

Therefore, we are eager to incorporate this Valentine’s sensory bin into our comprehensive preschool curriculum.

Pink Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin

Prepare your preschoolers for delightful play with our Valentine’s sensory bin, brimming with sparkling hearts, gems, and big diamonds to keep them fully engaged.

Materials

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that at no cost to you, I may earn a small sum if you click through and make a purchase.

• acrylic hearts (Here they are in red, pink, clear and even in rainbow colors).
• acrylic gems (I have pink and red, but you can also get a rainbow of colors).
• large acrylic diamonds (These are about 2″ across!)
• dyed rice or other Valentine-ish sensory bin filler
• heart shaped bins with lids (I grabbed mine from a dollar store).

How to Make a Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin

Start by dying your rice. I used Colorations brand liquid watercolor. They are my favorite because they have so many different colors and they are so incredibly vibrant!

Carefully pour the dyed rice into the bin in stripes of color. Then gently add the gems and heart shaped bins.

Now invite your kiddos to come and have some Valentine’s sensory fun!

Pots O Gold St. Patrick’s Day Sensory Bin

Valentine Sensory Play with Hearts and Gems

You can make this sensory experience in a sensory bin or in a sensory table.

At first, the kids marveled at the sparkly pink, red, and purple gems and hearts. My daughter began counting them, as if counting loot after a great haul.

I offered them some formula scoops to use in the bin. (Formula scoops make the best, scoops, by the way). They were just the right size to scoop the rice and gather up the smaller hearts and gems.

My daughter made quick work of collecting all the hearts, laying them out on the floor in long lines that stretched the length of the sensory bin. At first she just made lines, but another preschooler sat next to her and tried to make patterns with the hearts.

After several minutes they returned the gems to the bin and collected hearts in the little heart containers.  The girls counted how many hearts could fit in the containers.

So far, the work has been very delicate. My preschoolers jabbered away at how pretty everything was, holding the large acrylic diamonds up in the air to look through them.

My son filled formula scoops full of rice and held them up to closely examine them, looking for any gems that might be hidden in his scoop.

And then my daughter had an idea…

“Treasure!” she called out and used her hands and arms to scoop up as much of the sensory bin as possible, mixing all the gems and colors of rice together.

And then the others got involved, brushing the rice from side to side as if their hands were little brooms. They used the scoops to bury the gems in the rice and then it was a race to see who found them again!

Feed the Robot Game Valentine’s Alphabet Activity

Picture Books for Valentine’s Day

Explore new ways to celebrate love with your kids through a variety of charming Valentine’s Day picture books that offer stories of affection and friendship. Discover titles like “The Invisible String,” “Love from Bluey,” and “Happy Valentine’s Day, Mouse,” which offer sweet narratives perfect for reading aloud with little ones.

How to Make this a Valentine Sensory Bin for Toddlers

This sensory bin was fitting for my own toddlers who are mostly past putting things in their mouths. But I only allow my toddlers to play in this sensory bin when 100%, fully supervised!

Here are some ways to make this Valentine’s sensory bin toddler safe:

• Replace the rice with a cereal base.
• Replace the rice with one inch of water dyed pink.
• Remove the acrylic hearts and gems and replace them with paper ones.
• Or use more large acrylic diamonds.

Valentines Sensory Bin Ideas

Valentine’s Day offers so many inspiring ideas for making sensory bins. Try some of these other ideas.

• Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin with Beginning Sounds
• Dyed Chickpea Valentine Sensory Bin
• Spiral Pasta Sensory Bin for Valentine’s Day
• Scented Valentine Sensory Bin
• Conversation Heart Sensory Bin