Ive been looking for more activities for my 2 1/2 and 4 year old to do during the day. We just bought a water table for outside which they LOVE. They have a sand box we will soon put up, and a bubble machine that I know they will love. I just bought a 25 pound bag of beans or them, and right now they play out of a tub but I'm curious what else I can put them in or any idea's on ways to not be so messy! Any other idea's of fun activities you know of is welcomed. I have a 5 month old so it's nice when they have things to keep them busy while I nurse.
When I taught preschool, I had purchased a variety of beans (white, pinto, black, etc.) and mixed them all up in a tote with a lid. We would sort the beans; hide foam shapes, plastic dinosaurs, pirate coins, beads, etc. in the beans and they would have to find the objects. I also printed out a page (or you could handwrite it) with the numbers 1-10 going down the page. They then had to put (or glue) the corresponding number of beans on each line. As for clean up, I bought a little hand sweeper with dust pan. The kids LOVED getting their turn to find and sweep up any beans that escaped from the bin.
Play at Home Mom has a TON of great ideas. Some are fairly complex in set up, many will make you feel like a horribly inferior mother, but all of them are wonderful.
