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Making a Dried Food Sensory Box

Lately I have been on a mission to do more activities and crafts with my daughter. I already read to her every night. I sing to her and dance with her. I talk to her all the time. We play with her evergrowing collection of toys. Her father and I take her to children’s museums in the area. My toddler daughter is definitely not hurting for interaction or stimulation.

However, I still want to do additional crafts and activities with her. For Valentine’s Day this year, she and I made homemade valentines using simple blank heart cards and some Valentine’s Day stickers. My daughter was not quite old enough to actually help make the valentines, but she did have fun watching me and playing with the two puffy stickers that I gave her.

Another recent activity that I tried with my daughter was a sensory box made with dried foods. I had previously made her a sensory bottle using colored water and beads. She really likes her sensory bottle. Therefore, one morning before she woke up, I poured some dried beans, lentils, rice, barley, and alphabet pasta in a plastic container. I planned to let her play with the sensory box while I cooked lunch and cleaned up the dishes.

Was the dried food sensory box a success? To tell the truth, not quite in the way that I had hoped. My daughter took one look at all the dried food and promptly dumped the sensory box out all over her highchair and the floor. I thought that she would explore the small bits and pieces with her fingers for a few minutes. She simply wanted to dump the whole mess on the floor. I quickly picked her up out of her highchair, put her in the living room with her toys, and vacuumed up the mess.

Perhaps a dried food sensory box will go over better later in the year when my daughter is a little older. And the next time that I give her a sensory box filled with dried bits, I will probably let her play outside where the mess will be more manageable and not such a big deal. In any case, my daughter learned a fun lesson: Mommy freaks out when she dumps small bits all over the kitchen floor.

Rice, Alphabet Pasta, Barley, Pinto Beans, and Lentils Dried Food Sensory Box

Sensory Box with Lid

Have you ever created a sensory box for your child? Share in the comments below. Links are welcome.

Image Credits

Rice, Alphabet Pasta, Barley, Pinto Beans, and Lentils © 2013 Heather Johnson
Dried Food Sensory Box © 2013 Heather Johnson
Sensory Box with Lid © 2013 Heather Johnson

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