Supplies Required:
Dry beans
Scoops or other containers
Box (cardboard or plastic)
Bowl (optional)
There is a kids' play place nearby that we take E and W to. The play place has a table that is filled with dry rice and toys. E has literally spent 45 minutes at a time playing with the rice table. So a few months before her brother W was born, E's grandmother and I made her a bean box. We bought a plastic box from Target (I tried to look for something that was deep enough, but not too big so we wouldn't need to buy tons and tons of beans for it) and then bought several bags of dry beans. Here is a picture of the box to get an idea of the depth of it:
We filled the box halfway full of beans, and then put measuring cups inside that I had purchased from the dollar store. We picked out a variety of different beans, which made it more colorful. E loved the bean box from the first time she played with it. She loved scooping the beans with the cups, transferring them from the box to a bowl, and later, she started burying things (such as Little People) in the beans and then digging them out. Sometimes she would bury things in the beans and have me find them, or vice versa. I like the bean box much better than if we had done a rice box. Rice is cheaper, but it is MUCH harder to clean up because the pieces are so little. Although this project is on the pricier size (due to having to buy several bags of beans), the cost can be reduced by using a cardboard box instead of buying one. E has gotten hours and hours of fun out of her bean box. When we are in the car, E sometimes pretends to call Grandma or Grandpa (I play Grandma or Grandpa). Almost every time, when I ask her what she did that day, she says "I played with my bean box." (Even though she hasn't.) So even when it's not being used, it's being talked about.
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