I recently discovered this new play material called Pluffle. I haven’t decided yet if I think it’s cool or icky (it moves a bit like little worms – ewww!), but I can tell that I’m going to be using it in a lot of upcoming play activities! This Valentine’s Pluffle Sensory Bin is the first.
Pluffle is a play foam. I don’t know the science behind it, but it kind of moves on its own. It’s a bit creepy, but also very fun. Kids are pretty fascinated while they watch the movement as it expands.
Valentine’s Pluffle Sensory Bin:
Supplies needed:
- red Pluffle
- heart shaped erasers (from the Dollar Store)
- red jumbo kid tweezers
- pink heart shaped cookie cutters
- small pink heart shaped containers (from the Dollar Store)
- pink and red tic tac toe placeholders (from the Dollar Store)
- plastic bin
Directions:
- Empty a container of Pluffle into a plastic container.
- Drop in some heart shaped erasers, the cookie cutters, jumbo tweezers, and plastic heart containers.
- Invite your child or students to play.
Sensory and Learning Opportunities:
Fine motor skills – Kids can use the heart containers to scoop and fill. They can use the tweezers to pick up the Pluffle or to pick up the erasers and move them.
Math – Students can arrange the cookie cutters from smallest to largest or use spacial concepts to fit hearts inside each other.
Vocabulary – Talking about patterns, colours, and what textures they are feeling can help kids improve their communication skills and encourage them to ask questions.
Sensory – This Valentine’s Sensory Bin provides visual and tactile sensory feedback along with a bit of proprioception. There are a lot of textures to explore with the soft pluffle and the squishy erasers and the hard tic tac toe tiles. 
Check out some of our other Valentine’s sensory play activities:
