Here’s a fun Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin! Little ones will enjoy sorting chocolates and sweet treats with this fun Valentine sensory play idea.
Valentine’s Day is coming up quick and with that in mind, I wanted to create a fun Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin. Nothing says “Happy Valentine’s Day” like a box of chocolates!
My kids enjoyed sorting the chocolates, placing them in boxes, and pretending to give them away or sell them. So much imaginative fun to be had with this Valentine sensory bin!
We created our sensory bin with plenty of red and pink for Valentine’s Day, but feel free to use whatever you have on hand. I am all about using and reusing items for sensory play!
These same white lima beans have been in our Space Sensory Bin, Pie Sensory play idea and our Construction Sensory Bin as well. Use and reuse!
Supplies Needed for Valentine’s Day Chocolate Box Sensory Bin
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To make this easy Valentine’s Day themed Sensory Bin you will need the following items:
- Sensory bin or container – mine is an under the bed storage container.
- Pom poms – I used pink, red, chocolate brown
- White dry Lima beans
- Tongs (Our green tongs came from this play set and we also used a few of these tongs too!)
- Empty Chocolate Box with sections – We used a Hershey’s Pot of Gold and an Elmer’s Chocolate box. (Yes, that’s right….you might need to eat some chocolates to prepare this sensory activity!)
- Red heart scatter – this is a decorative heart scatter I found at Hobby Lobby. You can find something similar here on Amazon.
- Wooden scoop – Kids will enjoy scooping the beans and pom poms into the chocolate boxes with this.
- Plastic Measuring Cups
- Optional: You might like to add a plastic bowl and wooden spoon for stirring.
Alright! Let’s dive into this tutorial on how to make this Valentine Chocolate box sensory bin!
How to make a Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin
First add your sensory bin filler. My filler today is white dry lima beans. These are super fun for kids to scoop and the larger size makes them fun to handle.
The amount of beans needed depends on the size of your sensory table or sensory bin container. I like to have enough to cover the base of my container.
Next add your pom poms. I chose to use Valentine Colored pom poms, so mine are pink and red with some sparkle. We found them in the Valentine’s Day section at Hobby Lobby.
I also added some chocolate brown ones to look like real chocolates.
Now it’s time to add your chocolate boxes. We literally used 2 real empty chocolate boxes.
I just wiped them down for playtime after we ate the chocolates from it. Yes, I know….eating chocolate to prepare a preschool sensory activity is hard work. Ha!
Also, you’ll want to make sure you buy a chocolate box with sections. Not all chocolate boxes have this. We used Elmer’s Chocolates for the small box and a Hershey’s Pot of Gold Chocolate box for the large one.
Now it’s time to add your tongs and wooden scoop. Using kid tongs is great for fine motor skills development. But be sure they are kid friendly (made for kids) as kitchen tongs can pinch a child’s hand in between the closures.
Our green tongs came from a Grill set by Learning Resources. The other tongs are also by Learning Resources as well.
Adding a simple wooden scoop can really add to the play. Kids will enjoy scooping up the beans and placing them into the chocolate boxes.
If you like, you can also add a bowl and wooden spoon for stirring. This can also add another angle for play!
My kids had so much fun sorting the chocolates.
They enjoyed picking up a chocolate pom pom with tongs to fill the boxes, giving boxes of chocolates out, and pretending to have a candy shop.
This sensory play activity is perfect for preschoolers, but as you can see….older kids really love it too!
You might like to add this free fun pretend money to add to the candy shop fun and extend the learning!
Benefits of Sensory Play
Kids love sensory play – but you might be wondering – what are the actual benefits of it? Sensory activities like this Valentine sensory activity are great for fine motor practice.
Kids might use tongs or their fingers to pick up small objects. These fine motor skills will serve them well later as they learn to hold a pencil to write!
Providing sensory bin material in different textures helps young children to engage their senses.
Of course, it’s a simple way to captivate children in imaginative play for a long time.
The interesting textures, different colors and sensory material encourage language skill development as kids interact with you and/or other children.
And a huge perk – sensory play can help kids calm down and destress. This is SO necessary sometimes….because little people can have big emotions!
So, as you can see, there’s a lot to love about sensory play.
More Sensory Play Ideas
Looking for more Sensory Bin ideas? My blog is full of fun ideas for your sensory box!
Be sure to check out this Hot Chocolate Sensory Bin activity. It’s perfect for winter time sensory play! Little ones will love serving up cup after cup of hot cocoa!
This ABC Soup Sensory Bin uses items you probably already have! It’s a great way to practice letter recognition too.
This Construction Sensory Bin is always a hit! Kids will enjoy scooping, digging, building and more. What fun!
Younger Children will enjoy this Car Wash sensory bin. It’s super simple and so engaging for little ones! It would work well for a transportation themed sensory play idea as well!
Want to learn how to make Rainbow rice for your sensory bin? Find the simple recipe here. It’s the perfect way to make colored rice for all of your sensory play ideas.
And don’t miss my favorite sensory play idea! This Pie Sensory Bin is super adorable and can be adapted for different themes and holidays. It’s super cute!
More Valentine’s Day Activities for Kids
Looking for more Valentine Activities for Kids?
You can find a fun Marble Paint Heart Craft here. It’s super easy with the free printable Heart!
There’s a fun Symmetry Heart Craft here. Kids paint half of a heart page, then fold the page to print a symmetrical print on the other side. It’s early math concepts meet art….and it’s extra fun too!
Don’t miss these free Valentine Color by Number Pages. Perfect for practicing color sight word recognition and number recognition.
Need a fun way to practice counting? You can grab 3 free printable Valentine’s Day Dot to Dot pages here. Kids can connect the dots to create a Valentine envelope, a large heart, and a Valentine cupcake. What fun!
As I thought through this fun Valentine sensory play idea, I couldn’t help but recall the book Curious George and the Chocolate Factory. If you are familiar with the I Love Lucy episode about chocolates, you’ll find some similarities with this Curious George story!
Want to save this Valentines Day sensory bin for later? Pin the image below to your sensory bin board on Pinterest!
