Discovery Box How-To

I really hope no one is offended by this post...because its really simple. That said, I didn't exactly know how to make one of these, so I read up on the whole thing and then decided to just go it on my own and see what happened. Result...success!

Pretty much what you've got here is simple...a plastic tote (got mine from the Dollah Stow...aka the Dollar Store...for $7.00) and a ginormous bag of rice (got a 20 lb. bag from Publix for $13.00). Toys we already had...I used the girls' metal pots and pans from their IKEA Kitchen Sets (they've never gotten played with before now) and some old spoons...and of course, some Strawberry Shortcake and other Mc Donald's toys.

Put it all together and what-da-ya got? (Sing it with me now!) A DISCOVERY BOX! This thing is a like a treasure trove to toddlers. There are TONS of educational opportunities found here, but here are some of my own.

- You can dye the rice fun colors (we skipped that, but you can get a tutorial here)
- You can hide stuff in the box (hence the name DISCOVERY box) and then discover colors, shapes, numbers, letters, patterning, etc. with the stuff you hide.
- You can use this nifty little box in place of a sand box (better than cat-peed-on sand any day!)
- You can use this box to help little ones with fine motor skills
- And best of all, its just plain fun for kids!

I will warn you, it gets messy. We got this all set up yesterday afternoon and the girls couldn't wait to get a-playin' but I needed to cook dinner so I let them play with it inside. Big mistake. I'm STILL cleaning up rice (even after sweeping five times.) Its really best suited for a porch or the backyard...and then birds will clean up your Little's mess! Just make sure you put the top on your box and bring it inside when you're done...even a little humidity will leave your Discovery Box in a rice-ey mess if left out to...umm...cook.

I have TONS of ideas for our Discovery Box but in the meantime, the girls are having a ball just playing with it as is. See for yourself...





Side note: While I was snapping these shots, Jackson was all up in my face...in typical Needy Jackson fashion. I asked him if he wanted me to take his picture and he sat down as if to say, "Umm yeah, Mom." As soon as I brought the camera to my eye, he makes this face. This pissed off, spoiled brat little face. I love my little boy with all my heart, but man oh man...he can be a little you-know-what sometimes. : )