Valentine’s Day Rice Sensory Bin Play
With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching I wanted to plan an activity that would incorporate the holiday into my daughter’s sensory time in a fun and messy way. Okay, so I don’t really aim for messy but I know messy comes with the territory so I plan for it. We hadn’t played in rice in awhile so I thought it would be a good base for her bin and added on a few seasonal items for her to play with. Sensory bins are an easy way to create a play activity expensively that will encourage both imaginative play and sensory exploration. I think that is why they have become so popular now. They are easy to create, use materials you probably already have, and create an awesome learning experience for the child.
I made a layer of rice in the bottom of the bin. You can use food coloring to dye your rice but the kids asked me not to because it does have a strong scent when you dye it although afterward I did add some red rice I made with just food coloring to make it new for the next day. Inside I place rose petals decorations, heart toys, x and o sprinkles, cupcake cups, and a few tools such as a small pot and scoop. She added in her play kitchen and made me valentine cupcakes with flower petal icing. She is using a lot of different skills in this activity. She used the scoop to fill the pan with rice and took it to her play kitchen and pretended to bake it.
She then brought me back a rose petal cupcake made by her which I full pretended to eat and enjoy. Best pretend rose petal cupcake I’ve ever had.
She added a few items herself which she used her imagination to redefine. Such as this old marker lid which became a candle for her cupcakes. The little men became cupcake decorations. She pretended to open her own cupcake bakery. She had a lot of fun with the whole thing and even though when I made it, I had no idea it would become a bakery she turned it into her own thing using her imagination.
Clean up with dry rice is fairly simple and all you need is a broom. If you do decide you would rather have colorful rice just add food coloring and mix. Let it dry for overnight. You can also add sprinkles into it for added color. This way there is no strong odor left over by the vinegar or rubbing alcohol.
I added the red rice in beside the white rice for a whole new set up for the next play time.
I hope you enjoyed our Valentine’s Day sensory bin project!
Check back for more Valentine’s day fun or check out these links before for more Valentine sensory fun!
Mommy In Sports Valentine’s Day Play dough
Love Play And Learn Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin
Sugar Aunts Valentine’s Day Sensory Bottle
