If you love creating unique tuff tray play activities for your little ones, make sure you screenshot and save these Valentine’s Day inspired setups.
From pink themed to taste safe play ideas, prepare to be inspired with these super sweet and fun activities for your little one. (If you don’t have a tuff tray to hand, create a similar setup on a tray in a covered area!).
13 Sweet & Fun Valentine’s Tuff Tray Ideas
1.Love Potion Tuff Tray
Looking back on childhood, making lotions and potions with water and petals is such a core memory!
There are so many sensory opportunities, from scooping and pouring to mixing and smelling. Theme it for Valentine’s with red food coloring, and red and pink accessories.
2. Bear Handprint Crafts
Get your little one to create some super adorable handprint crafts for Valentine’s!
All you need is some A4 paper folded in half, those little hands, paint and a glue stick with your choice of add ons, such as sequins, hearts and googly eyes.
3. Flower & Water Play
If your little one loves the love potion setup, here’s a little twist on this popular sensory play activity.
Create a floral play idea by introducing flowers, sensory rice, and play dough with rolling pin and cookie cutters.
4. Valentines Pancakes
When are pancakes not a good idea?!
The best part about this is that its taste safe if those little hands start exploring!
This setup is perfect for getting your little one to explore food and ingredients. It helps to promote creative development, independent skills and social development. Get them to serve your favorite!
5. Sensory Rice Activity
Sensory rice is a fail safe sensory activity, no matter the season.
This is a special blend for Valentine’s Day, pink and red to tick those boxes! This one engages all the senses, they will adore scooping, pouring and running fingers through it.
6. Pink Themed Tuff Tray
It’s got to be done! Use only pink sensory items and objects in a tuff tray setup to honor the day of love. Add in little scoops and cups so they can have fun scooping, pouring and playing.
7. Valentines Day Maths
Maths, but make it fun! This open ended Valentine’s Day maths game is perfect for getting children to subitise, add up or just say what they see. Take inspiration from the below setup.
8. Red Themed For Love
Red can be just as fun, and we adore this red themed tuff tray setup. They don’t all have to have sensory bases (which we know can get messy!).
You could even get your child involved with the setup, asking them to bring any red toys they can find to the tuff tray.
9. Valentines Textures
Engage all of those senses by adding lots of different textures to a tuff tray for exploration.
Make sure to introduce some red and pink textures for a nod to Valentine’s. Some great ideas are marshmallows, chickpeas, pasta, rice, rose petals and strawberries.
10. Match The Hearts
Another maths inspired play idea, create a series of hearts, with the number on one side and counters on the other.
Cut the hearts in half and place around the tuff tray, this is a great problem solving and mathematics game.
11. Taste Safe Tuff Tray Play
Let’s face it, little hands explore and making a tuff tray taste safe just makes play more fun!
Take inspiration from the below where pink and purple hoops have been put into a blender to achieve this dusty, edible sand base.
Then top with anything pink, red or white that is taste safe. Used below is mini mallows, freeze dried raspberries, candy mix cake sprinkles and flower shaped cake decorations.
12. Heart Crafting
This super simple provision setup is easy, affordable and plenty of fun!
Cut out some heart templates, and add plenty of items to the table that little ones can stick onto the heart, pencils for them to draw with and anything else you want to add for open ended play.
13. Rose Petal Water Tray
If the weather allows, take it outside for a rose petal water tray play idea.
Wet play is always a lot of fun, for Valentine’s, color the water and top with lots of rose petals. Add pouring cans, scoops and plastic buckets for plenty of water play. Always remember to keep your little one supervised at all times when around water.
Happy Valentine’s!
