Monday, January 25, 2010

Winter Sandbox

DSC04204

This box has been a lifesaver this winter. With it being so cold here and one outdoor day in the last 3 months, i made this for my sandbox loving boy a few weeks ago.

I tried to let the girl play with it but after repeated fistfuls of rice being flung about, she has been exiled from the rice box. She tries to scale the kitchen table to get to it but so far there has been no mishaps (except by the boy). When he gets bored with one thing (trucks were first, then snow plows, and now dinosaurs) i change it out. I can usually get a good hour (and on a good day twice) with this thing. I made it when i was trying to get a book review done. Success!

I don't usually like food oriented play. I tend to never do it because food is, well food, and i don't like it being wasted or treated indifferently. But when potato's sprout, they become stamps (drawn by the boy, etched by mom) and when a half bag of rice that i don't even usually use accidentally gets buried for three years...well, it becomes a rice bucket.

10 Comments:

Blogger otowi said...

Neato!
And that is one of the neat things about rice and beans, too - I have a bag of Bismati rice that my ex-husband bought - so it is like 10 years old - and I still use it (obviously not very often). So, in a pinch you could still eat his "sand", just clean it well first. I'm glad he likes it so much!

9:12 PM  
Anonymous Umm Ayman said...

AN HOUR... WOW... i cannot believe that. Rice is so expensive i doubt im gna use that but i have a tub of red lentils that havent been touched in over a year. Ive definately got my after school activity for today, thanks sis xx

6:14 AM  
Anonymous take3 said...

That's an awesome idea.

Does rice actually go bad? We use rice so fast here I would never know if it did or not. But yeah you could always just wash it off. Unless of course he puts his apple juice in it...then no ...LOL :-)

11:48 AM  
Blogger Heather said...

Wow, what an amzing idea for the little ones, I am going to have to try this

12:12 PM  
Blogger wayfarer said...

Otowi - true!
Umm Ayman - it does work! at least for my kiddo. The sandbox (and now ricebox) soothes him and is kind of therapeutic for him i think.
take3- well, it does have an expiration date and it does go bad... http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_shelf_life_of_rice
heather - it's a great sensory activity absolutely. Your boys will love it i'm sure!

1:03 PM  
Anonymous Umm Ayman said...

ok - it didnt work.. nothin does tho, the boy just cant play alone! Plus i used red lentils, and after 20 mins he had an allergic reaction.. THEN i gave him a bowl with soapy water to wash his dinosaurs in and he spilt it everywhere... story of my life!!!! I went out for a drive when my husband got home, i have to stay sane!! xx

5:08 PM  
Blogger wayfarer said...

aw, every kid is different. it's the only thing EVER that keeps his interest for a span of time. This and sand. He just loves it and gets locked in. What about water? I sometimes let him "wash" dishes and that can keep him busy for a while. It's a huge waste of water but it does the trick. Or give him a spray bottle and let him wash stuff (washing machine, dishwasher etc).

6:20 PM  
Anonymous take3 said...

thanks for the links... it's good to know :-)

7:58 PM  
Anonymous Umm Ayman said...

good idea about the spray bottle, hes always after mine when im cleanin but i dont trust him with it!

5:39 PM  
Blogger jamily5 said...

Those little styrofoam popcorns also work well. They come in different sizes. Beads or buttons can work, but they are hard and not good for mouthers or throwers. We like styrofoam.

2:09 PM  

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