Our First Sensory Box

Ever since becoming a Pinterest fanatic, I've started reading and seeing these posts and pictures about sensory boxes.  I have to be honest- when I first looked at them I saw... MESS.  And beyond the MESS, I wasn't sure how much my kids would really like it.  I mean, we take them to the beach all the time- that's the hugest sensory box out there, right?! 

For the next 8 days, Ryan is working until 7 PM.  (UGH).  That means the kids and I are flying solo for everything except baths and bed time.  The kiddos absolutely love their time with Ryan, and I wasn't sure what we were going to do during those haunting hours (that's what I call them) between nap and dinner time. 

I jumped on pinterest, and have now compiled a board filled with activities for "when dadda works late."  On the menu for this week is,

• a shaving cream table (spray barbasol all over our little tikes table outside and let them go at it)
• 4 different sensory boxes
• bath tub fishing
• and a bunch of our normal run of the mill, arts and crafts stuff

As far as the sensory boxes go, I decided to start verrrrry basic.  I'm creative to a certain extent... but not like the uber pinners on pinterest (where do they come up with this stuff???)

The Dollar Tree was where I started out.  Here's my list of items:

• rice, rice, and more rice (like 8 bags of it...)
• beans (red, ham and black)
• 2 HUGE containers of oats
• 2 clear storage bins
• 2 packs of fake bugs
• 2 packs of fake coins (thank you mardi gras!)
• 2 packs of beaded necklaces
• 2 packs of mini farm animals
• fake flowers
• fake birds
• construction paper

Yeah... I spent around 37 at the DOLLAR TREE... where everything is $1.00- I had about 20 bags coming out of that place.

Anyways, I assembled two of my sensory bins last night- our garden bin and our bug bin.  (which in hindsight. really could have- should have been combined into one bin)

Today we did the bug/bean bin.  I cannot tell you how pleasantly surprised I am with the success of this project.  The kids were enthralled with it.  Henry had absolutely no direction- he just spooned the beans from buckets to cups, and ran his trucks through them.  I had a few activities for Maeve to do with hers- the first order of business was finding all the bugs.  This dollar pack of bugs, hidden in a bunch of beans, delighted my child more than I can tell you.  Every time she found a bug, she'd get a huge "OHHH" on her face, just beaming!

Along with bugs, I also stuck in "leaves" (construction paper cut-outs) with numbers on them.  The goal being, to find all 10 leaves (one for each bug).  And because I could think of nothing else to stick in this bean/bug bin, I cut out yellow squares- yeah... what?!  haha :)  Still though, Maeve loved digging for them!

Here are a few pics of our afternoon.

(disclaimer- these pics are straight out of the camera- no cropping/editing/nada... they're not pretty!)

On tomorrow's agenda- the "garden bin" (black beans with fake flowers, worms and gardening tools)