Valentine’s Day Hearts Preschool Sensory Bottles

Red scraps of construction paper scattered about, heart shaped stickers everywhere, pink glitter covering the floor… this can only mean one thing… Valentine’s Day is near! While I do love a good craft project, it seems like they are never ending around Valentine’s Day. The one major downfall of the crafts… the pounds of glitter that are forever falling off of our homemade valentine cards. Valentine’s Day Hearts Preschool Sensory Bottles are perfect for keeping with your crafting traditions while containing the glitter mess to one bottle. Trust me, you’re going to LOVE this one!

Sensory play learning activities are a great way to engage your little one in a fun craft project that is great for their development!

What Are Sensory Bottles?

A sensory bottle is exactly what it sounds like, a bottle filled with sensory stimulating materials!

Glitter, glue, water, and other tiny objects come together to fill a container and create a wonderful, stimulating sensory experience!

The swirling, sparkling contents of the bottle make for awesome visual stimulation, while the bottle fits into small hands perfectly.

Sensory Bottle DIY Crafting Activity:

You can buy pre-made sensory bottles, or you can make your own! We always make our own since my kids love making them, they are inexpensive, and easy are to make.

Discovery bottle, calm down jar, sensory bottle– no matter what you call it, they all get made the same way!

First you need a container or bottle for your sensory bottle.

Next, you add a combination of some liquids such as glue, water, corn syrup, or oil.

Add filler like confetti, glitter, or tiny toys and you have yourself a sensory bottle!

Other Valentine’s Day Sensory Play Ideas:

In addition to this fun, easy to make sensory bottle, there are many other options for sensory Valentine’s activities.

• Create some homemade pink and red play dough.
• Bake some delicious heart shaped cookies, draw icing designs, and decorate them with sprinkles! The decorating part is excellent for fine motor skills.
• Try this fun Valentine’s Day Sensory Activity Bin!
• Make your own cards using pom poms, glitter, pipe cleaners, and construction paper. The use of all these different types of materials are awesome for the sense of touch and for helping strengthen fine motor skills.

How To Make Your Own Sensory Bottles:

Sensory Bottle Ingredients:

• One 16 oz clear plastic bottle (an empty water bottle like a Voss water bottle works well for this!)
• Two to three 6 oz bottles of clear Elmer’s glue
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon of valentine’s day themed confetti or glitter (we love using heart confetti and red glitter!)

Instructions:

Pour one 6 oz bottle of clear glue into your sensory bottle.

Add warm water to the empty glue bottle until the bottle is about half way full. Put the cap back on and shake the bottle.

Pour the liquid from the glue bottle into the sensory bottle.

Add some of the glitter, confetti, and small toys (if you wish to add them) into your bottle.

Seal the bottle with the lid and shake it well to combine the materials. Continue adding materials to the bottle until you have achieved the desired effect you want for your sensory bottle.

Here are some helpful tips!

• Glitter moving too slow? Add more warm water!
• Glitter moving too fast? Add more glue!
• Not sparkly enough? Add more glitter and confetti!

Once you have filled your bottle to perfection, seal the lid shut using glue.

Feel free to add duct tape or other decorations to the lid.

Enjoy your fun Valentine craft sensory bottle!

More Options For Your DIY Sensory Bottle:

• Add some glow in the dark glitter or glue for a fun night time sensory activity.
• Heart shaped stickers make an adorable decoration for the outside of this bottle or the lid!
• Use puffy paint to draw some valentines themed heart art on the outside of the bottle. This will also add a fun texture element to the bottle!