Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Beans, I say.

It hasn't been rainy here lately but it looks like it's on the way. I found this great activity over at Uniquely Placed and just had to create my own.

It's very simple. Just locate or purchase a box (with a lid is even better). Purchase several pounds of dried beans. (I used pinto but would probably use whatever is cheapest at the time.) Dump the beans into the box, add some sandbox toys, and treasures to unearth. Hand it over to the kids and watch them spend hours or at least tens of minutes playing in their new indoor sandbox.

Two things to watch out for:

  • The beans do still spill out but are easier to clean-up than sand. You might consider laying a blanket down underneath for even easier clean-up.
  • Children do have a history of sticking small things in small holes. So supervise close enough that beans do not end up in anyone's nose, ears, or wherever else they might stick them.


For grown-up bean fun, I highly recommend the card game Bohnanza. It's one of the few games I will play with my board game obsessed husband.


7 comments:

Midwest Mom said...

What a fun idea, Abby! My children enjoy experimenting with textures. It must fire off some special part of the brain to bury your hand and make it pop out of the beans. For my guys, that sort of thing always produced gleeful giggling.

- Julia

Anonymous said...

I'd say your idea does amount to a "hill of beans." yes, I am lame enough to have just posted this comment.

Anonymous said...

I think Linus is such a lucky kid to have such a creative mom that comes up with all kinds of new ideas to keep him busy and happy. Kudos to you Abby! gramma B.

Marty, a.k.a. canape said...

That's really cool. We'll be hanging onto this idea for a little later - when CC isn't still putting everything he touches in his mouth.

Nell said...

What a simple idea for lots of fun. I bet my boys would love this. Looks like your little tike did!

Nell

Chimpsea said...

Fun! We used to have different texture boxes, rubbermaid-type crates where some had sand, others beans, pasta, and rice. The kids loved playing with them with funnels, small toys, measuring cups, etc. Good times!

Chimpsea said...

Ummm... and by we I mean the daycare I worked at.