Until I started blogging I had never come across a sensory bin or even heard of one. The best way to describe a sensory bin is – into a suitable container themed items are added to create a stimulating, learning, play-inviting micro-environment for children. Not too wordy a description? A delight for the senses is another way of putting it

I thought that my girls would probably be too old for a sensory bin. But then I decided to colour some rice – just for fun – and before I knew it I was compiling a sensory bin. A valentines, love-hearty sensory bin.

First up :

How to colour rice

4 cups of rice

2 tablespoons of food colouring

3 tablespoons of rubbing alcohol (look for the green bottle with the crocodile on it at the supermarket)

Method:

Put the rice in a sturdy, large plastic bag and mix in the other two ingredients. Rub it all together and very quickly the rice will become your colour of choice.

Lay the wet, coloured rice out on a baking tray covered in baking paper.

Place the baking tray out in the direct sun.

It was a warm day here when I made it. Even so I was still surprised when it was fully dry in less than 2 hours.

I added the following items to our sensory bin:

• pink, red and white pom poms
• pink and red patty pans
• one pink silicone patty pan
• small metal kitchen utensils
• a white plastic scoop
• a small pewter tea pot
• a small metal milk jug
• small red and pink lovehearts made from padded fabric and felt
• a tea leaf strainer
• white plastic funnel
• red and white pipe cleaners

I set the bin up outside and thought I would add our little loveheart rugs to define the activity space a bit more.

Ebony wanted to have a play first, and by herself By all means I thought. I was really interested to see how she would approach the activity and how long she would find  it appealing. Well I can report two big ticks on both counts. From a purely economical standpoint – it was totally worth the effort!

Lots of love for the rice…

…and the patty pans. The pom poms and love hearts became icing and decorations for red rice cupcakes.

We also had a bit of a fun photo session while we were sitting outside too…

The pouring, the colours, the cupcakes, the decorating – guess what? I had to join in for a few minutes too! No photos of that though (the readers sigh with the relief). Don’t blame you

Yummy cupcakes.

A boat with a mast and sail (of course you didn’t need telling!).

Well then Zoe needed to have a turn – she wanted to play inside and she got herself a muffin tray as well. Zoe had a definite plan for her sensory bin items.

More cupcakes!

Oh what fun we had! Seriously good for the senses. I’m already planning the next sensory bin… talk about a bandwagon hopper-onner-er.

I hope you enjoyed all the bright colours and pretend making and creating. Red is such a powerful colour, so fabulous to craft with.

Thanks so much for popping by and joining in on our activities

Write a little comment to let me know you’ve been. I would love to hear from you!

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Other Valentine’s themed posts you might like:

Love Heart Wrapping Paper with a Cardboard Tube

Easy Love Heart Card

Message in a Basket