Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day

A day for loving

A day for giving

A day for thinking of others

A day for kindness

A day for fun

Do you have any special plans with your loved ones?

I am setting up a special candlelit dinner for my children

And we will be doing some heart themed drawing and painting

We will also be continuing with our red and pink

Valentine’s sensory play

Edie has had her Valentine’s treasure basket for 10 days now

She loves it and it comes with us everywhere

This treasure basket or plastic tub

Is filled with things from around our home

Loosely linked by colour

And / or theme

I just grabbed anything pink or red

That would be interesting for Edie

Aged 9 months

To explore

Here is a list of what is in our treasure basket

Red Grimms and Grapat Balls

Red Haba Discovery Ball

Red Air Flow Ball

Red Infantino Sensory Ball

Red Grimms Bowl

Love Monster Board Book

The I Love You Board Book

Wooden letter cubes spelling EDIE

Red silk scarf

Red and white starry muslin

Red ladybird

Pink butterfly

Brio bell rattle

Wooden worm

Red edged baby safe mirror

Red fabric seahorse

Red and black fabric butterfly

Red and purple sound blocks

Red and pink stacker pieces

Red squashy cube

And some photos of the items too

I put all the items together in the tub

And gave the collection to Edie

She absolutely loved emptying out the contents

She looked at some of the objects very closely

Seeming to really examine them

She explored the things using all her senses

I deliberately chose items with a wide range of textures

Different shades and depths of colour

A range of patterns and transparencies

It was fascinating to sit back and watch Edie

As she explored the texture, weight, shape, size and smell of the objects

And the taste, always the taste!

Edie loves to look at books

Board books and cloth books

Are great for little hands and mouths to explore

I love reading to all our children including Edie

And it is very special when her siblings

And cousins choose read to her in their play

Edie loves to sort through her treasure alone

But she also loves to share

She loves watching older children play

And often tries to mimic what they do

This treasure basket has been great for getting Edie

To look at familiar things in a new way

She has enjoyed picking things up and putting them down

She likes to shake things and bash things together

She enjoys poking and prodding

It is wonderful watching her get to grips with the different

Household items and toys

I give Edie her basket first thing in the morning to play with

I also take it with us when we go out

I try to keep the discovery basket fresh by rotating some of the objects

And changing up how I present them to Edie

This Valentine’s Treasure Basket is not a true baby treasure basket

I have a few posts coming up on the blog

Talking about ways to play with true treasure baskets

And what to put in them

This one is just a plastic tub full of pink and red loveliness

For Edie to examine and explore in her play

This basket was super speedy and simple to set up

With toys and household items we already own

What could you put in a Valentine’s collection for your little one to play with today?

Roses are red

Violets are blue

We love Valentine’s Play

We hope you do too!