Let’s be honest- my boys don’t know what holidays are. They have no clue what Valentines means. February 14th will come and go without the slightest bat of an eyelash for them. But I ADORE them. And while they may not care if I plan a single activity revolved around this *lovely* holiday, I can’t pass up an opportunity for a cute photo opp + fun sensory play!
Hunter is 9 months old now and I am just starting to incorporate more sensory activities for him to enjoy. There have been such cute valentine craft ideas and at home Valentine cards all over the internet that I wanted to do with my boys, but they are still too young for formal sit-down and cut-and-paste activities. That’s where sensory play comes in. It is informal and open ended. There’s “wrong” way to play with the materials.
I gathered what I had around the house: A heart shaped container, some of Hunter’s favorite small toys, and shredded paper (I added valentine’s colors to be more festive 🙂 Since he is semi-mobile (crawling), I opted to set this activity out on a small floor quilt to contain any potential paper mess.
I like to offer special activities to my boys as soon as they wake up from nap because it’s just so fun to watch their little faces light up in thinking “Hey- That wasn’t there before!” (or at least that is what I imagine they are thinking 😉 Here’s Hunter’s look of excitement and surprise when he saw what I had for him :
Hunter had a great time exploring the texture of the shredded paper. Coming across his favorite toys in the midst of it added an element of familiarity to this fun new experience. And -as usual- big brother Cannon saw what we were up to and was determined not to be left out of this playtime opportunity!
