Sifting for Treasure !
This is a challenging sensory activity for preschoolers but toddlers like my son will still enjoy it , they will likely just do what he did, which is scoop the sand and treasure into the 2nd bowl. Children have to use a steady hand to gently sift the sand to expose the treasure, this is definitely a great activity for working on patience.
- Gather your materials. You will need some sand ( I got mine in the home section of Walmart) , and small objects to hide in it. We are using pom poms and plastic coins. You will also need a small sieve and 2 bowls.
- Pour your sand into a bowl, and pop in the objects.
- Cover them with sand.
- GO OUTSIDE- I say this because we had a traumatic Dustbuster experience last time we did sand in the house, the Dustbuster sucked up the sand but shot it right back out and into my and my son’s eyes. Worst mama moment to date, we were both in tears.
- Start searching for treasure.
- Older children should take the time to sift out all the sand so the little bowl only has the treasure in it ,no sand.
- Younger ones can just explore and scoop, my son had plenty of fun doing this over and over.
Book!
“up above and down below” by Sue Redding is about 30 years too late,because this would have been my favorite book as a preschooler! I love this book, I have been reading and re reading it just awwing at the pictures and how cool it is to see what goes on above ground vs below, on the deck of a ship vs below and my favorite one the golf course! My son and I poured over the pictures,finding different things every time we looked at a page. Great book and I hope to see so many more from this author!
tara says
Love this idea!
Pink & Green Mama says
Fun! I’ll be adding this to our sand table. 🙂
Tulip's Talking says
Just a wonderfilled idea! I will remember for my someday grands!!!
~Lily
jennwa says
I know kids would love doing this. It is a great idea.
stacief says
What a great idea! We will be doing this soon.
I LOVE you blog!
Tati says
I love all the ideas! Sand is the best toy ever! I just posted a giveaway on my blog of a Spanish children’s music CD. Check it out! http://www.wannajugarwithmigo.blogspot.com.
Tati
sunnymama says
The sand activity looks fun. I’ll do this with sunnyboy. The book looks really interesting too. Thanks for the ideas!
Georgine says
You son is so cute in that hat! Does he have his pajamas on too? I love that! I am going to get some sand this weekend, it ‘s supposed to be nice in the midwest.
Allie says
We’ve been fighting colds and the Pjs have been on pretty much 24/7 for the past week! I am debating taking him to the store in them right now.
Chrissy says
Oh, this looks like so much fun! I’ll be sharing this on OCP!
Allie says
Chrissy- I had never been to OCP before,I don’t know how I missed it. Awesome! Added the featured button!
Thanks!
Marnie says
Hi Allie,
How old was your little guy when you started with this activity?
Thanks,
Marnie
admin says
He was over 2 and still got a little frustrated at first, this was posted when he was 2.5 ish and that was about the right amount of patience needed.