With this invitation to play tray, your child can engage in some Valentine’s Day themes loose parts play! This fun activity is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers to encourage creative thinking and open ended play.
Finding age appropriate Valentine’s Day activities is a challenge for my 22 month old and 3 year old. I want to find something that both my toddler and preschooler can do together and both have a lot of fun!
Loose parts play is quickly becoming a favorite at our house, and invitation to play trays are buzzing on social media!
This boredom buster really transformed our afternoon. It was too cold to go outside, and the kids were restless. This Valentine’s Day activity changed their attitudes completely!
If you’re a regular reader of the blog, you’ll know we’re very into sensory play. It’s one of our favorite screen-free activities and is usually my go-to! But I wanted to shake things up on this cold winter day, and this loose parts tray did exactly that!
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What is loose parts play?
Loose parts play is exactly as it sounds! You give your child an assortment of materials and let them play however they want with them. There are no “goals” or “right” ways to play, the child gets to use their imagination and creative thinking to decide what to do with the loose parts.
Loose parts play challenges your child, since there is no specific way to play with the loose parts. It’s fun to see what they will decide to do with the objects, since there is no right or wrong way to play. Loose parts encourage independent play, free thinking, creative thinking and problem solving.
You’ll likely see bins of loose parts or invitation to play loose parts trays at childcare centers. I noticed it is a hit in my daughter’s preschool class! But loose parts play is easy to do at home as well.
You can use any materials for loose parts play. Some examples would be buttons, small stones, felt pieces, crumpled paper, and anything else small enough to fit in your child’s hands.
Creating a Valentine’s Day Themed Loose Parts Invitation to Play Tray
An invitation to play tray is just as it sounds – it’s a way of encouraging your child to focus on the activity in front of them by offering a variety of materials and letting them play however they want.
This Valentine’s Day activity engaged both my toddler and preschooler for over 30 minutes. They would leave and play with other toys for awhile, and then make their way back over to this activity.
Materials used:
I purchased most of the materials from the dollar store or craft store. You can really get creative with whatever materials you have laying around the house!
How to make a Valentine’s Day Invitation to Play Tray
I arranged the materials on old baking sheets to contain the mess a little. My kids spent the first 10 minutes just pulling the materials apart and seeing what they could do with them.
Then, my 3 year old asked for a few items from the kitchen. We got out a slotted spoon, a fork, some small Tupperware containers, a muffin tin, and a whisk. Both kids then had fun transferring items into containers, sorting out the sequins, stacking the different hearts, and exploring the tray!
When my kids were done playing, I placed all of the items into a bag to save. We can reuse them in a sensory bin, or even if we want to do another theme activity. In fact, most of these objects were used before last year when I did a Valentine’s Day sensory bin!
I’ll probably bring them back out when we start learning the color red, or the heart shape for my littlest ones. I love an activity with zero waste!
Have you tried loose parts play before? What did your child think?
It’ll definitely be an activity we do at home on the regular, my kids loved it!
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