Many parents notice that when they give their child a present, they’re more interested in playing with the wrapping, rather than the present itself. It’s easy to get carried away with lots of expensive presents for young children, but actually children can be very imaginative and are pretty good at playing with FREE things you already have in the house – in ways you never even thought about! Treasure baskets are great ways of gathering fun and interesting items together in themes – perhaps for you to help show an upcoming event, or just for fun!
Valentine’s Day Treasure Basket
So with Valentine’s Day coming up, I thought it might be nice to have a themed treasure basket with some things I already had in the house, plus some very cheap things from our local Home Bargains and Poundland. Here’s what I came up with:-
My treasure basket includes:-
- pink bun cases one containing a play dough heart (we rubbed some glitter into it) and another containing beads and some heart stickers.
- heart fairy lights
- pink ribbon
- a pink tiara that came on a birthday cake
- pipe cleaners bent into hearts
- foam hearts that came in a craft set
- real petals from a Christmas plant
- fake flowers (these were from Dunelm mill)
- a little plastic fork usually used in a sandpit
What I’ve tried to do is include a range of shapes and textures that really invite babies and young toddlers to play. I think it’s nice to have treasure baskets around themes like Valentine’s Day as it helps guide you when you’re putting them together, as otherwise it can feel a bit overwhelming.
Valentine’s Day Sensory Bottle
We also made a sensory bottle for Valentine’s Day to go with the treasure basket. For this you need:-
- a clean plastic bottle with a lid
- baby oil
- water
- red sequins or pom poms or buttons
- red glitter glue or paint
- red glitter
- petals
- or anything else you want!
Simple add the ingredients together in a bottle and glue the lid shut (I use a glue gun) You need to give the bottle a REALLY good shake to distribute the contents around. It works slightly better if you use things like pom poms and feathers as it slows the mixture down and gives it more of a lava lamp effect.
So there you have it – two easy, cheap and on the go activities for this Valentine’s Day! Can be used in your home or setting.
Explore the rest of our Valentine’s Day resources here!
