This collection of valentine sensory bottles are sure to inspire some fun this February. What a great calming addition to your valentine activities for preschoolers.
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Related: Valentine Sensory Bin with Water Beads
Valentine Sensory Bottles
The first year we made our falling hearts glitter jar, I was amazed at how into them the children were. They were placed in our science center in February, and didn’t end up leaving until the end of the school year. The kids loved those Valentine’s Day sensory jars that much.
Honestly, so did the teachers! Some days, before the hustle and bustle of the school day began, a few of my fellow teachers would stop into my classroom. We’d end up sitting in the kids’ little chairs, chatting away, sharing ideas for the week . . . and playing with the calm down jars!
I suppose I shouldn’t have been too surprised. Over the years, I’ve noticed children really get a kick out of all kinds of sensory jars. And I don’t blame them one bit.
There’s just something engaging about manipulating sensory bottles this way and that. The different materials inside each one are eye-catching, and it’s almost as if there’s something new to observe each time.
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Related: Valentine’s Day Science Activities
Materials for Your Valentine Sensory Bottles
Before we jump into the ideas, you need to make sure you’re stocked up on sensory bottle ingredients! Mind you, I’m a big proponent of using what you already have. But if you’re looking for a reason to pick up some new materials, I’ve got you covered. Here are some to consider:
Valentine’s Day Sensory Jars to Check Out
As promised, here’s a collection of valentine sensory bottles perfect for February. You can even make tweaks to each of them for different seasons and holidays.
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Related: Valentine Calendar Numbers free printable
- Floating Heart Glitter Jars – Follow the simple directions to make your own mesmerizing floating hearts jars!
- Valentine’s Day Sensory Bottle with Water Beads – Grab some water beads and acrylic hearts to make this fun, and easily adaptable, sensory jar.
- I Spy Valentine’s Day Heart Bottle – I love the many ways that conversation hearts can be used for learning!
- Pink and Red Sensory Bottle – This discovery bottle is super versatile. Use any small objects you have on hand – and don’t forget the glitter!
- Suspended Heart Discovery Bottle – You just need two ingredients to make this one!
- Kid-Made Water Beads Sensory Bottle – I love how the foam hearts stick to the outside of this bottle, while the water beads float around. Such a fun combination.
- I Spy Love Sensory Bottle – Preschoolers will love discovering their own faces, as well as the faces of those they love, hidden in this bottle!
- Floating Hearts Sensory Bottle – This bottle uses glitter glue instead of loose glitter, which is a great alternative if you’re glitter-averse.
- DIY Slow Falling Hearts Sensory Bottle – The red hearts used in this sensory bottle make a gorgeous contrast against the clear background.
- Valentine Heart Confetti Sensory Bottle – This Valentines discovery bottle is unique because it doesn’t include any liquid, just fun heart confetti and other goodies!
- Alphabet Discovery Bottle for Valentine’s Day – Why have I never thought of writing on conversation hearts? This is brilliant!
- Red Glittery Sensory Bottle – Glitter glue AND glitter combine for an extra sparkly jar! This one would make a wonderful gift, too.
Now, the question is which of the valentine sensory bottles will you make first?
What Do Kids Learn with Sensory Jars?
To answer that question, I’ll pose another one — what DON’T children learn with sensory jars?! Really, they can be used to touch on almost every single early learning concept imaginable. Here are just a few:
- How to use our senses to observe the world around us
- Hand-eye coordination
- Measurement and counting skills
- Descriptive words of all kinds
- Viscosity
- How to take a break when feeling overwhelmed (they are often called calm down bottles for a reason)
- Letter identification
- Volume
- How to spell names
- States of matter
I kept that list short, as I could go on all day about the learning concepts sensory jars can be used to explore! The sky’s the limit really. In fact, I like trying to incorporate sensory bottles within many of my preschool themes. They’re just such engaging early learning tools.
Preschool Lesson Plans for Valentine’s Day
Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes book suggestions, printable plans, over 30 learning activities (both whole group and centers) related to the theme, and corresponding printables.
If your students enjoyed the valentine sensory bottles, why not try out one of the fully-developed lesson plan sets below? Click on the images to read more about each of them.
You can also find us on Teachers Pay Teachers.
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