Baby's First Valentine's Day Party!

For Kingston's 1st Valentine's Day, I hosted a "Baby's First Valentine's Day Party" for Kingston and his friends. In our Bradley birth class we met two amazing couples who have been with us though it all: practice, birth, and the beginnings of parenting! We constantly go to each other for advice, validation, and support! It's awesome for us Mamas (and Dads!), but it's also great for our babes, who love playing with each other multiple times a week. Not only was it K's 1st Valentine's Day, but his two little friends Oak and Olivia's as well! We have a weekly play-date (generally on Thursdays) and we decided as a group that we would start doing weekly craft/activity days with our little ones. I volunteered to host the first activity day and it just so happened to fall on Valentine's Day! So, the "Baby's First Valentine's Day Party" was created!

On the agenda for the day:

Valentine Handprint Keepsake - The baby's printed their hands on a heart shaped doily (courtesy of the dollar store - 24 pk for $1!) with pink or red ink. Then the Mama's pasted the hearts onto construction paper and decorated with stickers and writing to make keepsakes for themselves and family members. 

Baby's 1st Valentine Sensory Paint Bags: This was the baby's first ever painting projects!! When I worked as an infant teacher, we would constantly make these bags for the kids to explore! They were wild about them! I cut out 3 heart shapes for each bag, placed them in a ziplock, and added paint & glitter. The babies then smooshed, squished, and chewed on the bags to make a design on the hearts! 

Here is Kingston and his pal Oak doing their sensory paint bag project!

Exploring the Color Red: I collected items from around our house- Kingston's toys (a fire engine, a car, red links, red blocks, red stacking cups), a pair of K's little red socks, a wipes case, some different sized bowls, some plastic baby cutlery, heart shaped cookie cutters and some faux flowers (courtesy of the dollar store seasonal section!) The baby's took turns diving into the bin and exploring all of the items. There were lots of different textures and shapes to experience! They also loved the sounds all of the items made when banged together. Kingston especially loved the faux flowers and wanted to devour them whole! They are now in residence in the dress up section of our playroom since they were such a hit with him!

Here is Kingston exploring the color red bucket:

Valentine Sensory Bottles: This was a project for the Mamas to make for the babies. I gave Kingston his earlier with his Valentine gifts! He is really into bottles. I provided two waterbottles, red pony beads, red pom poms, red-gold-silver glitter, heart shaped buttons, and red food coloring to dye the water. 

Here is Baby Olivia playing with the sensory bottle her Mama made her!

 

Of course the day wouldn't have been complete without Kingston sharing the love with his buddies, so I picked out some Valentine's for him to give to his friends. The basket contained a card-making craft with all the supplies for the Mamas to make Valentines for the babes to give to friends and family!

 

Valentine Sensory Bin: I collected red & pink ribbon, lace, and different fabrics (cotton, flannel, and knit) from my craft room to put in the sensory bin. The babies took turns dumping out and pulling apart the sensory bin. They really enjoyed the different textures.

Here is Kingston exploring the sensory bin. He really enjoyed tasting all the different items! .. Then again, Kingston really enjoys tasting EVERYTHING! 

And of course no baby party extravaganza would be complete without a Valentine Storytime! I collected some of the books we had (both baby board books and some older books) that were Valentine or love related. Each of us Mamas chose a book out of the bin and read it aloud! We all lounged on the couch and listened in. We chose: The Story of Valentines Day, Guess How Much I Love You, and I Love You Stinkyface!

The rest of the day was spent playing, eating Valentine treats (Mamas only!), and taking pictures of the sweet babies enjoying their day!

We got some cute pics of them interacting (notice the wardrobe change.. K had a puddle of pee in the footie of his Valentine's day outfit.. I couldn't tell you how he pulled that one off!) They are at such an amazing age now when they actually have started to become aware of each other, interact, and play with another. It is so much fun to watch them grow and change. All in all it was a really wonderful day and Kingston had a blast!  He was asleep by the time everyone's cars pulled out of the driveway. I hope to continue throwing a Valentine bash for him every year!

Happy Valentine's Day!