Treasure Basket

My little guys love to discover new things. Especially Luke. He is at that age where he is curious about everything around him! I can't even open the dishwasher without him crawling as fast as he can to it, and then trying to take everything I put in it, back out. He wants to touch and chew on everything within reach.

I recently found The Imagination Tree blog via Pinterest. It has loads of wonderful ideas for sensory and heuristic play. I instantly loved her idea for Treasure Baskets. You fill a basket with every day items from around your home or outside. Items such as...different fabrics, wooden objects, kitchen utensils (safe for baby of course!), pine cones, ribbon, sea shells, beaded necklaces, etc. The idea is to find objects that are safe for your little one to explore. Items with different colors, textures, and patterns that will peak their curiosity and interest. The concept behind this is known as Heuristic Play. If you want to learn more about Heuristic play check out this post from Little Acorns To Might Oaks.

I knew this idea would be a huge hit with Luke. He has a basket filled with various rattles, blocks, and other baby toys that he loves. He sits next to it, takes one toy out at a time, looks it over, shakes it, chews on it, then tosses it aside and proceeds to the next toy.

These are a few of the things I put into Luke's "treasure basket"...

various fabrics

piece of scratchy velcro

brightly colored chunky necklaces

measuring tape

empty thread spools on a shoe lace

ribbon

2 wooden hearts and a car

large sea shell

3 clothes pins

large metal kitchen spoon

bean bag

foam shapes

All of these are objects we have either found in our home or on a nature walk. No cost whatsoever!

(Don't forget to make sure when choosing items for your basket, that they are age appropriate and safe for your little one. I would also suggest supervising them while they play with their basket to make sure nothing gets lodged anywhere!)

It was a HUGE hit! Luke loved it!

 

The funny thing is, Jack loved it more. Luke sat there for a good 15 minutes, inspecting several of the items. Jack sat there for almost 45 minutes! He wanted to touch and feel everything in the basket. Once he had that out of the way, he began to figure out how each item "worked". His favorite item...a retractable measuring tape. He would pull it out, let it snap back quickly, and laugh hysterically. This would make Luke laugh as well. It was so adorable!

Luke's favorite part of it all...

...sticking every item in his mouth!

After a while I put the basket away. I pull it out once a day and allow the boys to play with it. Jack discovers new ways to play with the items each time. Luke watches him very closely and often tries to mimic Jack. I switch out half of the items every few days to keep them interested and excited. I may even try to do a few "themed" treasure baskets in the future. It has been a wonderful way for the boys to discover and learn to be more creative in their play.