While I choose not to celebrate Valentine's Day anymore as an adult because I honestly just find no romance in it at all (I prefer random acts of love all year around between Eric and I); I do LOVE the holiday for children and a time for teaching them love, the love of Jesus, and the love for others. So, I wanted to throw a party for Ellie and her friends where there could be fun science, sensory bins, crafts, creativity, silliness, decorating, playing, sharing, story time, and food!
We started the party with some free play exploring with a room full of balloons and water beads. The kids had so much fun bopping, chasing, and kicking the balloons around the house! What kid doesn't love balloons?!
After letting all the kids arrive and get comfortable by playing together a little while, I had them gather around for a Valentine's story! "The Valentine Bears." So so so cute a book! I loved watching the expressions and the feedback they gave me when I asked them questions, involving them in the story.
After the book, I showed them all the different stations I had set up for fun playing and exploring!
First we had an Oobleck bin. Oobleck comes from Dr. Seuss' book, "Bartholomew and the Oobleck." Oobleck is made with corn starch and water and it is a Non-Newtonian substance. Comparable to ketchup. To make it, I used 4 boxes of corn starch to fill up our sensory bin. Then, not measuring but stirring as I go, I added water. You want to add just enough water that all the corn starch is wet, but not flooded. Just add little by little, stir, and add more if needed. You can pick oobleck up like a solid and then it drips through your fingers, holding no shape. It is a thick mixture to stir but easy enough to make. I added Valentine candies to add some interest.
Next we had a science station making love potions. Ellie and I made these last week together which I previously blogged about. Baking soda, White vinegar, liquid watercolors in desired choice, (I used red, violet, and magenta for Valentine's colors), pipettes, and heart shaped cookie cutters. I placed the cookie cutters in the bin, filled each cookie cutter to the brim with baking soda, placed vinegar in small little cups and squeezed a small amount of the liquid watercolors in the different cups of vinegar. Then, using the pipettes, the kids squeezed vinegar onto the baking soda hearts making a fizzing bubbling love potion. One thing Ellie liked doing once all the fizzing was done was to squish the pliable concoction in her hands and build things with it. She told me she was making a mountain. Such good sensory and imaginary play!
Another station was the Valentine Creation Station! The kids used hearts I'd cut out in various colors and decorated them with glitter, paint, glitter glue, and stickers.
The next station was the Love Monster/ Love Bug station! Using round foam spheres, the kids decorated little creatures with pipe cleaners, feathers googly eyes, puff balls, and rhinestones.
There was a photo booth station...the props got used but the backdrop got destroyed amidst the playing which is totally ok! Haha! Kids love to run through streamers and the idea was to have fun so that's what matters.
The last station was a Valentine cupcake decoration station. I baked cupcakes and set them out on a tier with icing, various Valentine's sprinkles, and decorative writing glittery red food gel. This was good messy and yummy fun!
After this, the sun was up and the temperature had reached 66F and the kids ran outside to play together on Ellie's playground and in the playhouse and pic-nic their lunches.
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