A collection of fun and exciting Discovery Box ideas for preschoolers that are so simple to put together for hours of creative play for 2 to 5 year olds.
Learn all about the theory of loose parts and how to set up an easy invitations to explore loose parts at home with materials from around the house.
Having noticed that baby T has started to examine object more intently often picking up specific items of interest I decide it was high ti...
A collection of fun and exciting Discovery Box ideas for preschoolers that are so simple to put together for hours of creative play for 2 to 5 year olds.
A lovely blog reader, Gill, sent me a huge box of pine cones that she had collected from her garden in the hope that I would come up with something to do with them! I was thrilled as the girls have only got one measly pine cone in their treasure basket and I knew they...Read More »
For a while I have been planning to put together some boxes of materials from some of our Discovery Boxes to encourage free, open-ended, investigative and creative play. I found some small boxes for just £1 each at Ikea and used them to add a range of multi-sensory materials on some low shelves that the...Read More »
This portable tinker box is a one stop creation station for little inventors. Simple to put together, handy to store at home and easy to take to grandma!
Things have been a bit quiet in our house as Little Pop has been struggling with a virus for the past few days. Big Sis has been keeping herself busy with her toys and books and the newest Discovery Box. This one was lots of fun and so easy! The box contained 100 coloured straws,...Read More »
This Heuristic Play Treasure Basket is a great introduction for small babies to a variety of different sensory objects to explore and discover.
Here is a collection of baby play ideas and activities for 6 to 18 month olds to inspire curiosity, problem solving and good old fashioned play times.
For a while I have been planning to put together some boxes of materials from some of our Discovery Boxes to encourage free, open-ended, investigative and creative play. I found some small boxes for just £1 each at Ikea and used them to add a range of multi-sensory materials on some low shelves that the...Read More »
When Cakie was a small baby I used to take her every week to a lovely Sure Start play-group that was run by an early years teacher. The group was fantastic in that it had some very well planned activities for toddlers, such as sand and water, play-dough, puzzles, puppets etc as well as incorporating...Read More »
Yesterday afternoon I had the great pleasure of selecting and preparing some new resources. After searching high and low in and around the town where my setting is situated, I returned with arms la…
When Cakie was a small baby I used to take her every week to a lovely Sure Start play-group that was run by an early years teacher. The group was fantastic in that it had some very well planned activities for toddlers, such as sand and water, play-dough, puzzles, puppets etc as well as incorporating...Read More »
All things blue! The medium in the box is a mixture of rice and salt. I used a small amount of paint to colour it blue. Then I decided to add lots interesting items in different shades of blue. The…
Simple ideas for encouraging creative play using discovery boxes and treasure baskets for babies, toddlers and bigger kids.
Make this colour themed baby treasure basket for some sensory, heuristic play for your baby or toddler! Colour themed baby treasure basket
In this post about using Treasure Baskets with babies I said I was going to have a go at making a toddler version called Discovery Boxes. The idea for the Discovery Boxes is that each one will contain a range of items grouped together for an open-ended play activity. Toddlers like to find out what...Read More »
I gave the girls a big box filled with egg cartons and just sat back to watch them and talk to them as they decided what to do with them. This was a fun Discovery Box! Both girls played with it at their own level and were creative in their thinking, which is exactly what...Read More »
It’s been such a long time since I posted about our treasure baskets and thought an update was in order! If you haven’t heard of these or made one before you are in for a treat. Treasure baskets are virtually free to create, take a few minutes to put together, are natural and help to...Read More »
Great ideas for preschool discovery baskets, for math, small worlds, pretend play and science
A group of my favourite bloggers have come together to link up our most favourite and important posts from 2011 into a Best of the Best Celebration today! We have all chosen just one post from 2011 to highlight. If you are a blogger you can link up your very own favourite post below too!...Read More »
This was a really fun activity that both girls enjoyed equally. Little Pop enjoys the Discovery Boxes too now, even though she can’t always manipulate the materials in the same way as her big sister and it’s very interesting to note the comparisons between what they can do. These lovely, colourful and sparkly pipe cleaners...Read More »
When Cakie was a small baby I used to take her every week to a lovely Sure Start play-group that was run by an early years teacher. The group was fantastic in that it had some very well planned activities for toddlers, such as sand and water, play-dough, puzzles, puppets etc as well as incorporating...Read More »
If you are looking for a bit of extra inspiration for what to put in your treasure basket then you have come to the right place. Having used treasure baskets over many years, I have tried out a huge number of ideas, and the very best of those have made the shortlist and got onto …
Loose parts are open-ended materials used for play. There are many options to use with infants and toddlers. Using loose parts has several benefits.
Learn all about the theory of loose parts and how to set up an easy invitations to explore loose parts at home with materials from around the house.
“There can be no effective and satisfactory work without play; there can be no sound and wholesome thought without play.” ~Charles Dickens, 1854 (cited p.118 Goldschmied) Defining heuri…
It’s been such a long time since I posted about our treasure baskets and thought an update was in order! If you haven’t heard of these or made one before you are in for a treat. Treasure baskets are virtually free to create, take a few minutes to put together, are natural and help to...Read More »
Learn all about the theory of loose parts and how to set up an easy invitations to explore loose parts at home with materials from around the house.
Make a baby and toddler sensory play tray and fill it with materials and objects to discover about reflections! Heuristic play taken to the next level from treasure baskets to full body exploration!
A lovely blog reader, Gill, sent me a huge box of pine cones that she had collected from her garden in the hope that I would come up with something to do with them! I was thrilled as the girls have only got one measly pine cone in their treasure basket and I knew they...Read More »
Create a baby treasure basket for exploratory play and learning for little hands and minds! If you’ve been reading here for a while you will remember the baby treasure baskets I have posted over the years, right back from when Pop was a baby (she’s nearly 3, waaaah!) If you would like a good introduction...Read More »
A collection of fun and exciting Discovery Box ideas for preschoolers that are so simple to put together for hours of creative play for 2 to 5 year olds.
A full list of our Discovery Boxes and an explanation of Heuristic Play can be found under the labelled tab at the top of the page or click here. I found a lovely egg shaped basket and natural pebbles on sale in Ikea this week and just knew they would be lovely for a Heuristic...Read More »
Things have been a bit quiet in our house as Little Pop has been struggling with a virus for the past few days. Big Sis has been keeping herself busy with her toys and books and the newest Discovery Box. This one was lots of fun and so easy! The box contained 100 coloured straws,...Read More »
This Heuristic Play Treasure Basket is a great introduction for small babies to a variety of different sensory objects to explore and discover.
Read here how you can easily set up your own inventor's box from recycled materials and get some great play ideas for hours of fun with the inventor's box!
A full list of our Discovery Boxes and an explanation of Heuristic Play can be found under the labelled tab at the top of the page or click here. I found a lovely egg shaped basket and natural pebbles on sale in Ikea this week and just knew they would be lovely for a Heuristic...Read More »
Entertaining a baby is deceptively hard! I had this delusion that I would continue to take my six-year-old to all of his normal activities and the baby would just come along for the ride. I had pictures in my mind of the baby calmly playing at my feet while I cooked or sitting contently in my arms while I taught my son math. I obviously had completely forgotten what it was like to have a baby! It turns out that I am desperately in need of help playing with my baby. Fortunately, a blog called Nothing if Not Intentional introduced me to a great idea called Heuristic Baby Play.
Make a fun sensory play activity for babies and toddlers using hair rollers. A tactile exploratory experience, great for little hands to develop co-ordination and motor skills.
A lovely blog reader, Gill, sent me a huge box of pine cones that she had collected from her garden in the hope that I would come up with something to do with them! I was thrilled as the girls have only got one measly pine cone in their treasure basket and I knew they...Read More »
