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You are here: Home / Themes / Hearts / Valentine’s Day Sensory Box (and a cute children’s book about love)

January 28, 2013 By Chelsey 23 Comments

Valentine’s Day Sensory Box (and a cute children’s book about love)

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Today was the perfect day to get our Valentine’s Day themed sensory box ready~ it was a sunny day, and I had time and energy to get errands done~ always a fun combo!

IMG_8941I headed off to Target and, because our sensory boxes seem to lose the fillers quickly, bought 8 pounds of white rice with a plan in mind to dye it pink. Then, I headed to Cost Plus and found some heart shaped pasta. Perfect! (I also found a couple cute treats there for the kids on Valentine’s Day!)

Once we got home, I wanted to take advantage of the sun and get the rice dyed outside. If you’ve never dyed rice or pasta before, it’s super easy! I put the rice in a large baggie. (I split my rice up into four bags since I had so much.) IMG_8943Then, dump in some white vinegar. I’m thinking for each 2 pound bag I probably added about 1/2 cup. Next, squeeze in food coloring. The amount really depends on how dark you want the colors.

Make sure the bags are sealed and smush the bags all around until all the rice is evenly covered with color. Find somewhere to lay out your rice to dry. Usually I line cookie sheets with newspaper and dump the rice in there. Today I took the lazy route and went straight for the newspaper sans cookie sheets. That made it a bit harder to gather all the rice back up once it had dried. Let’s just say our deck is now nicely adorned with pink rice!

IMG_8947

Okay, so I hadn’t planned on shaping it like a heart, but once I noticed my rice pile kind of resembled one, I had to go for it!

You don’t have to lay it in the sun to dry, but it does go more quickly. Once it dried I kicked myself for not using cookie sheets and struggled to get the rice off damp newspapers into my container while talking to myself out loud,  I gracefully dumped the dyed rice into the container.

IMG_8957Now for the fun part~ adding all the goodies! I added the heart shaped pasta I had found at Cost Plus. And I also had some little heart containers I had found in the Target dollar bins last year, so I added those too. And finally I tossed in some little measuring spoons and a heart cup. Can’t wait to let the kids get started playing!

I also wanted to share a cute book I recently bought, Plant a Kiss, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. I am in love with it! A little girl plants a kiss and watches her love spread to all those around her. As Lucy says, “It reminds me of all the love I have inside me.” I feel like I need to brainstorm a little project to go with it. Any ideas?

IMG_8975

 
I’m an Amazon Affiliate and only recommend products that I personally own (or wish I owned) and think my readers will love as well! This post contains some links that will take you to these products on Amazon where we receive a small referral fee. We greatly appreciate your support! 
If you liked this post, you might also enjoy~
  • Stamping Glitter Hearts with a Paper Towel Roll
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Filed Under: Hearts, Sensory Play, Toddler Play, Valentine's Day Tagged With: love, sensory box, valentine's day

« Banana Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough {recipe}
Valentines Made Completely by Your Child~ Easy enough for a 2 year-old! »

Comments

  1. Nancy says

    January 29, 2013 at 1:02 pm

    Such a sweet and fun project!
    I’d love for you to stop by and link this up at my link party, which is live right now. It is for new and OLD projects!
    http://www.dosmallthingswithlove.com/2013/01/an-oldie-but-good-link-party-3.html
    Hope to see you there!

    Reply
  2. Mom and Kiddo @What Do We Do All Day? says

    January 30, 2013 at 3:45 pm

    Plant a Kiss is such a lovely book. Thanks for sharing your ideas at The Children’s Bookshelf.

    Reply
  3. Katie @ Gift of Curiosity says

    January 30, 2013 at 8:06 pm

    Very cute sensory bin. Pinning now!

    Reply
    • buggy & buddy says

      January 30, 2013 at 9:45 pm

      Thanks, Katie! We’ve been having fun with it!

      Reply
  4. JDaniel4's Mom says

    January 31, 2013 at 4:53 am

    I love your book tie in! The rice is such a pretty color. I am pinning this post to my Sensory Bin board on Pinterest.

    Reply
    • buggy & buddy says

      January 31, 2013 at 8:56 pm

      Thank you for pinning!

      Reply
  5. Heather Nieman (@OnFaithandCoffe) says

    January 31, 2013 at 7:58 am

    Very cute~! Pinned!! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  6. momsquestions says

    January 31, 2013 at 12:32 pm

    That is such a cool sensory bin! I LOVE that heart shaped pasta. I think I’ll be looking for some when I go grocery shopping this week. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
    • buggy & buddy says

      January 31, 2013 at 8:55 pm

      Thank you! The pasta has been so fun! Lucy wants me to get more so we can actually cook and eat some! LOL

      Reply
  7. Chrissy Jordan says

    February 1, 2013 at 8:17 am

    I’ve been searching the internet for sensory ideas and this whole Montessori idea since our son won’t be attending pre-school as planned (they don’t offer it here) and this is great!

    I wonder though, do you let your kids play indoors with the rice? If I put a big box of rice on the floor for my kids, I’m pretty sure my husband would have a coronary! lol

    I’d love it if you would share this on my Friday link-up party!!
    http://www.parloandlogi.com/fi-tfriday9/

    Reply
    • buggy & buddy says

      February 1, 2013 at 9:05 am

      We actually do play with the rice both indoors and out! (Inside when my husband is gone~ LOL!) I’ve done it two ways inside~ sometimes I put a blanket or our art mat down so it’s easy to collect all the bits that fall out, but usually I just have them play on our kitchen floor (not carpeted) and just sweep up the spills when we’re done. Lately, we’ve been outside with it though. Theo (19 months) has taken to throwing the rice, so until we get that under control, we’ll be staying outside with it. Lucy never wanted to launch the sensory materials when she was younger, Theo is more of a challenge!

      I will definitely check out your link-up party!

      Reply
  8. Jessica @ Play Trains! says

    February 1, 2013 at 9:48 pm

    Cute…the rice turned out such a nice color of pink!

    Reply
  9. Kristina says

    February 2, 2013 at 1:09 pm

    Very cute! I’d like to make a sensory bin for my daughter– I think her 2 year old self would LOVE it!

    Reply
  10. Repurpose My LIfe says

    February 2, 2013 at 6:37 pm

    Love the box. I can’t wait to check out the book. Can’t wait to dye some rice!
    Please link up some craft posts here:
    http://repurposemylife.com/5-valentines-projects-kids/

    Reply
  11. Natalie says

    February 6, 2013 at 7:20 am

    So cute, great idea!
    Thanks for sharing on Tutorial Thursdays.
    x
    Natalie
    http://www.marigoldsloft.blogspot.com

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Heart Themed Fine Motor Skill Activity | Buggy and Buddy says:
    February 4, 2013 at 4:36 am

    […] with our heart shaped pasta! Who knew we’d get so many uses from it. I had put some in our valentine sensory box along with some little straws, and Theo had been having a blast putting the straws through the […]

    Reply
  2. Heart Themed Fine Motor Skill Activity for Your Toddler | Buggy and Buddy says:
    February 6, 2013 at 3:02 pm

    […] with our heart shaped pasta! Who knew we’d get so many uses from it. I had put some in our valentine sensory box along with some little straws, and Theo had been having a blast putting the straws through the […]

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Welcome to Buggy and Buddy! I'm Chelsey, a former teacher and parent living on the central coast of California. I love sharing crafts, science, STEM and STEAM activities, free printables and more! Read Moreโ€ฆ

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