If you have a toddler, you know how essential busy-time is. Having something to keep the little one occupied while you need to complete a task (for me, this is most often dinner preparation) and keep an eye on him is a lifesaver. This one is good for toddlers who are old enough to keep from sticking every last thing in his or her mouth, be warned!
What You’ll Need
- shallow tupperware (or other) container, large enough for him to sit in
- dry beans, rice, wheat berries, or whatever else you have on hand (I used some dry pinto beans and wheat berries that were very old and going to be otherwise tossed)
- spoons, scoops, small bowls
And that’s all! Place toddler into container and enjoy! Emil (18 months) enjoyed this activity so much that he played for 30 minutes straight, then returned to it several times throughout the day. Not only did Emil enjoy scooping and sorting, he also spent a great deal of time just running his hands through the mixture– such a great sensory activity! Toward the end, he did start scooping the beans out onto the floor, but after I gently reminded him that the beans stay in the bin, he kept them in, and even cleaned up any loose beans that ended up on the floor afterwards. And the greatest thing was that Milo and Oliver got in on the fun in different ways. Milo became preoccupied for an hour straight with just sorting the beans from the wheat berries, and I later added large dry white beans, which were sorted from the other sized beans. Oliver enjoyed pretending to cook with all the different “ingredients.” So I suppose we will be doing this again and again until the weather is nice enough for extended outdoor play!
For easy clean-up, I poured the beans and wheat berries in a plastic baggie and stored in the cupboard for another time.
Enjoy!
Fun! Alice is definitely not quite at that age as EVERYTHING still goes in her mouth but I’ll bookmark this for later… 30 minutes straight of playtime?!? Heaven!!
Good, clean hillbilly fun! 🙂
Just kidding – this looks awesome. Audrey’s preschool sent her home with a little laminated sheet of colored paper hearts and a box of those chalky conversation hearts, and it was a little DIY sorting game. Which was pretty awesome until she started licking them and it was sticky all over the place. Beans seem like a much tidier way of sorting because who wants to lick a kidney bean?
Fun! We played in a kiddie pool filled with dried corn kernels at a harvest festival and it was really entertaining. I have a bag if random beans that I use for pie weights so i could try this… might not be enough beans but I could add to it… and then make a whole bunch of pies! 🙂
You’re so clever. I’m always having, “why didn’t I think of that?” moments. Also, I’ll be sending my kids out to your house for summer camp. Consider yourself warned.