Valentines Sensory Bowl

Last night I saw a post somewhere (sorry, I don't remember...but it was probably on Pinterest) about sensory bins and I thought that it would be so much fun for little man! I had a few problems though. One, little man was already in bed, asleep. Two, I didn't have many supplies. Three, Valentine's Day was practically over. Well, I figured that little man wouldn't notice if it was a day late, so I stopped by Michaels and Target today to scour the Valentines clearance sections. It turned out that there wasn't much left to choose from! I bought 2 bags of small plastic, jewel-like hearts and a box of metal, heart-shaped cookie cutters. (...not exactly the big "score" I was hoping for)

When I got home, I hunted through my "craft/art supply/misc." cupboard for fun thing-a-ma-jigs to fill my bowl with. (yes, I have a bowl, not a bin...but it works!) I was able to find some red pom-poms, red and natural twisty pastas, a mini pink teacup, a pink spoon and a small pink bowl. (not too bad for what I had on hand!) I've only made little man one other sensory bin in the past, when he was a bit younger, so I wasn't really sure how he would interact with the whole thing. Turns out, little man really enjoyed it! He had the most fun using the mini tea cup to scoop up the pastas, plastic hearts and pom-poms to make "tea" for himself and Gramma! He would pretend to drink it and would even make "slurping" sounds! {so cute!}   

 

Little man did a pretty good job of keeping everything "contained" in the general area of the bowl and his immediate surroundings. He got a little over enthusiastic twice and a few pieces of pasta went flying. After explaining that we had to be more gentle, he did great and was even my big helper when it came time to clean up. 

It wasn't exactly what I envisioned for a sensory bin, but, little man had a great time with it, so really, that's all that matters. I really liked it though and had fun watching little man play with it. I would love to make a monthly bin for little man, or at least holiday bins. Now, I just need to plan a bit further in advance and start stocking up for the next holiday! I'll definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for some St. Patrick's and Easter goodies (and an actual bin)!

Have you created a sensory bin for your little one? What did you include?