VALENTINE’S DAY FOAM SENSORY BIN

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Foam sensory bins are always a hit and they’re so easy to throw together! If you have some dish soap and a blender of sorts hanging around then you’re ready to go. Since it’s soap it’s also the opposite of a messy activity – but you should be prepared to get wet!  With some fake flowers and heart lacing beads that remind me of conversation hearts, this sensory activity gave a simple nod to Valentine’s Day. 

MATERIALS USED:

• Ikea Flisat table
• Ikea Trofast bins 
• Learning Resources Fine Motor Tool Set
• Some thrifted heart shaped lacing beads
• Some thrifted kitchen utensils 
• Thrifted faux flowers
• Dish soap 
• Water
• Blender (I only have a Magic Bullet but any blender should work)

So, how to make the foam you ask?

The foam is fun and easy. You’ll want about 2TBSP of dish soap per 1/4C of water. Put both into the blender and blend for about 1-2 minutes. The foam should form stiff peaks when it’s done!

If you want coloured foam, add a few drops of colouring into the blender before mixing.

I only did one small batch for our table, but you could empty the blender and repeat for a larger batch! 

I had one batch that didn’t quite turn out (I used the wrong ratio – oops!) so our table had one bin of foam and one bin of water with bubbles. 

It’s always fun to watch everyone explore a sensory activity in their own way. One of the toddlers was very seriously slowly scooping foam while the youngest found the most joy in energetically splashing water. The other twin was intrigued by trying to find the hidden hearts under the bubbles while the eldest loved scooping out and inspecting the flowers. 

If this doesn’t scream Valentine’s Day quite enough for you, some simple variations could be: 

• Adding red and/or pink colouring to the foam 
• Having a bin with red water beads alongside the bin of foam
• Raiding the seasonal aisle of the thrift store or dollar store for more Valentines specific pieces 
• Hiding laminated V-Day cards in the foam 

This is great for both indoors and outdoors. If you’re playing with it indoors, I usually place a few towels under our Ikea table to catch the water and soap that falls to the floor – it can get slippery pretty fast if not. I love that it leaves the floor more clean than it started as opposed to other sensory bins – thank you, soapy water! 

Well, that’s it for this activity! Be sure to check out our other easy Valentine’s Day activities we’ve been up to. 

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EASY VALENTINE’S DAY CRAFT