Author Topic: Great activity for 2ish year olds! (Read 6344 times)

Mashi · « **on:** May 24, 2010, 08:07:08 am »

Not sure what age range this would fit, really - DS is 22 months and I suspect maybe a couple of months ago he would have enjoyed this as well but not toooo much younger or it would have been disaster (ie/ at 18 months)....and prob up to 3-4 years old would enjoy...

I put down a large white sheet (spare double bed duvet cover) on the living room floor and dumped the following on top --

- half a bag of risotto rice
- half a bag of long grain rice
- bag of tiny ABC pasta
- bag of sesame seeds

And gave him various tiny pots and plastic cups, miniature spoons, measuring spoons and cups, a small plastic funnel, a couple of random things like an empty tic tac box, etc. A few of his toy cars added into the mix and presto -- 2 hours, yes 2 HOURS of not a sound. Just playing. Nicely.

When finished I had him help me scoop the mixture up into a large ziploc baggie and tucked it away for the next time - which has now been 3 days in a row (raining here) and each time gets a good hour + of play. The mixture does not get ground into the carpet like sand would and a very quick run with the vacuum and any strays are gone.

MasynSpencerElliotte · « **Reply #1 on:** May 24, 2010, 15:00:03 pm »

Excellent idea for a rainy day! I've had Masyn do water play with a big old rubbermaid tub, but haven't tried rice/pasta yet. (of course we have a fenced in yard, and I send them out even if it is raining a bit, but in the winter time we need some variety)

Now, I'm assuming he didn't try to eat it? hmmm...might have to do a test run with a small bowlful for Spencer, I have a weird feeling she might eat it.

Mashi · « **Reply #2 on:** May 24, 2010, 15:05:32 pm »

Yep, of course he tried to eat it!!

But, the great thing is, it's all food, non toxic, edible stuff, but a nasty texture and awful taste. So one spoonful shovelled in and I did not need to worry about it being toxic or harmful and he hated it and so spat it right back out!!

MasynSpencerElliotte · « **Reply #3 on:** May 24, 2010, 15:20:48 pm »

lol...but I'm not sure the texture would deter her, the kid eats cardboard and I caught her the other day actually gnawing on a wooden puzzle board (like a rabbit, and she actually was eating the wood!)

Too bad it's a holiday today, the only pasta I have in the house is spaghetti...I'll have to do some shopping tomorrow!

~ Vik ~ · « **Reply #4 on:** May 24, 2010, 15:32:53 pm »

Oooooo! Dylan's a little young for this yet, but this is a great idea for when the weather gets cold in the winter! Thanks!!

~ Vik ~ · « **Reply #5 on:** May 24, 2010, 16:48:01 pm »

What would you dye it with? Food colouring?

Mashi · « **Reply #6 on:** May 24, 2010, 18:22:05 pm »

Never thought about dyeing it, might look into that. The reason I added the pasta and sesame seeds was to give it a bit of "colour" rather than just be plain white rice (and it made it look a sandy colour) but he would probably love to dye it!!

~ Vik ~ · « **Reply #7 on:** May 25, 2010, 02:25:00 am »

That's great!! Thank you!

We Three · « **Reply #8 on:** May 25, 2010, 02:32:44 am »

That is awesome Mashi....I think some Montessouri nurseries do rice and pasta tables too! Along these lines, my friend told me a long time ago that her ds does not have sand in his sandbox, but rather what is called pea-gravel, which is normally used in landscaping, and looks just like it sounds! Less mess, and she said he'd sit for hours with his dump-trucks and stuff!

Totally gonna try this on the next rainy day! DD is older, but very tactile and I think she'd really like it!

kimbo613 · « **Reply #9 on:** May 25, 2010, 03:31:16 am »

I've actually done this with DS at about 14mo or so, though he only did about 20-30 min before he was bored. Can't believe you got 2 hours!
I used an old shower curtain and put the rice in one of those plastic underbed storage things with a lid. Makes it kind of like a sandbox and he can bury things, and I just tuck it under his crib when finished. I have done it on carpet and in the kitchen, depending on when I'll be sweeping/vaccuuming. His favorite thing to do is to dump a cup of rice from standing and watch it go everywhere

*Becky* · « **Reply #10 on:** May 27, 2010, 11:34:51 am »

thanks - great idea. DS does eat everything but like you said it is non-toxic. Going to try it x

~*Nicole*~ · « **Reply #11 on:** May 27, 2010, 11:43:25 am »

LOVE this idea!

katie80 · « **Reply #12 on:** May 28, 2010, 02:02:30 am »

Oh, I like this a lot too and all things in the pantry. Thanks for sharing!!

nwmm · « **Reply #13 on:** May 28, 2010, 21:14:33 pm »

Very cool.

We do that with rice. I keep it in some small air tight containers. Take out a ton of things for them to poor and scoop with. Gets really messy, but they love it.

alohahellokitty · « **Reply #14 on:** May 30, 2010, 01:20:39 am »

Wow, these are great ideas!! Thanks everyone!

~*Nicole*~ · « **Reply #15 on:** May 30, 2010, 03:50:36 am »

I just made my "Box of Food" for DD to play with. I dyed my rice rainbow colors, got some dried beans, and some pasta ready for her to play with! I hope she likes it! (edit: I let her try it out this morning!)

katie80 · « **Reply #16 on:** May 30, 2010, 18:35:54 pm »

Great pictures, Nicole!! Looks like a lot of fun!

koe2moe · « **Reply #17 on:** May 30, 2010, 19:04:48 pm »

what great ideas!!! lovely photos, Nicole!!!

thanks for sharing

just wondering if you bother sorting them out afterwards??? j/k hahaha

~*Nicole*~ · « **Reply #18 on:** May 31, 2010, 01:33:56 am »

Quote from: koe2moe on May 30, 2010, 11:04:48 am

just wondering if you bother sorting them out afterwards??? j/k hahaha

I wasn't going to but DH said it bugged him and we did it together! (doubt we'd do it each time)

Love, laughter, & PJs · « **Reply #19 on:** May 31, 2010, 01:40:09 am »

Great idea!!

EloysH · « **Reply #20 on:** May 31, 2010, 10:37:01 am »

great idea, am struggling for new things for my 2.5 year old to do whilst i am feeding and putting the baby to sleep!

MeAndVee · « **Reply #21 on:** June 04, 2010, 05:06:38 am »

We did dhal in DS's sand table last year. Got buggy real quick though because it was outside. Liking the idea of having it indoors on a sheet though. Never thought to use pasta either. And there are so many fun shapes out there! Putting it all on my must get this week list.

~*Nicole*~ · « **Reply #22 on:** June 04, 2010, 14:29:05 pm »

Okay, so DD must be a very oral kid cuz after one bite she continued to eat and munch on the beans in particular. And she isn't too keen to stay on the sheet and wanders and then drops the pieces all over. SO I need to supervise or keep it outside. She LIKES it though. Asks to play with it!

Although, Mashi, I am jealous b/c we don't get anywhere close to the time you got from Mini-Mashi. She spends maybe 15-20 minutes and then she's off to something else.

Mashi · « **Reply #23 on:** June 04, 2010, 18:17:49 pm »

Yes, he does still like to put it in his mouth - dips his dummy in it and then sticks his dummy in his mouth

But, promptly spits it out because he hates the taste/texture, but then does it again immediately. Silly. He does try to throw it off of the sheet as he likes the sound it makes when it hits the floors (no carpet so it's like a waterfall sound) and I DO need to sit there with him. But I can sit in the room and read a book and not have to play it WITH him the entire time.

The other day I was folding laundry and carried a sheet out that is identical to the one that I use to put the rice on, and he jumped up and quickly started picking up his toys and putting them away. I noticed but was talking to DH and folding this bedsheet at the same time so didn't think much of it. Then he came running back into the room carrying some pots from his plastics cupboard and sat nicely on the floor with them....I sort of thought "

" and then walked out and he FREAKED!!!!!! Like totally screamed and shouted THAT! THAT! THAT!! (only word he knows) and crying and ran over and tugged at the sheet and tried to spread it out on the floor! So I knew what it was he wanted, but now I can't fold bedsheets in front of him anymore. I've also learned not to tell him that we are going to "Play nice" as it got me the same scenario!!! (He heard "play rice" iyswim).

Nicole I find that when he wanders off to something else all I have to do is tell him to use that new thing in the rice - so he is playing cars, gets up to play with his kitchen and I tell him to bring the cups etc over and we will play kitchen in the rice. Then dolls, then little people stuff, then books (open the books up like tents and pour the rice over the sides, etc)...and on and on. Everything gets in there! I've even stopped cleaning it up and now just pull the corners of the sheets up and twist it and stick it in his closet with the rice in the middle!

~*Nicole*~ · « **Reply #24 on:** June 04, 2010, 22:15:34 pm »

She does love it. Asked DH while I was out the other night to "Play with her special surprise?" which sounds something like "Play wif speshul pwize?" so he took it out for her. It's outside today as she wanted to bring it out to play with and it's on the walkway all over! LOL

I could encourage her to play with other things on it. That's wonderful.

~Emma~ · « **Reply #25 on:** June 17, 2010, 09:56:37 am »

Nicole - I really want to do this for Brodie. What type foods do you use? How do you dye rice? Sorry, not very good at this hands on kinds stuff but I think DS would love it!

Mashi · « **Reply #26 on:** June 17, 2010, 10:37:33 am »

Emma to dye the rice I used rubbing alcohol with a few drops of food colouring and soaked the rice in it for a few minutes. Then spread it out on some sheets of paper in the sun until it was dry.

For other foods I now have in his "box of rice" - lentils of all sorts, various pasta shapes (ABCs, mini stars), rice, and some kind of bean thingy. All mixed together in one big bucket. He LOVES it!

~Emma~ · « **Reply #27 on:** June 17, 2010, 10:42:56 am »

Thanks Mashi. This is going to be my 'activity' whilst he's at nursery tomorrow!

Why the rubbing alcohol though?

Mashi · « **Reply #28 on:** June 17, 2010, 11:05:04 am »

It helps it dry faster and does not soak in like it does with water. You can also use distilled white vinegar if that's easier to get but I would not use regular English (ie/brown) vinegar.

I did mine in a bowl - a few spoonfuls of alcohol and a couple of drops of food colour and really mixed it around but I have also read that it is easy if you put it into ziploc bags and shake. Then pour it out onto newspapers or cookie sheets to dry.

~Emma~ · « **Reply #29 on:** June 17, 2010, 11:05:59 am »

I know for sure he's going to try and eat the stuff, is that ok?

Mashi · « **Reply #30 on:** June 17, 2010, 11:30:44 am »

I can guarantee you that yes, he will try to eat it. But I suspect he will also probably try to spit it out right away, too! DS still insists on dipping his dummy in it but as soon as he puts the dummy in his mouth he spits and tries to get it all out ... and then does it again

I say it's not really a problem - maybe use vinegar instead of alcohol I guess. Or don't dye it. I only dyed a small bit of it trying it out, and DS has been so happy to play with it at all let alone if it was dyed. He even loved it when it was just plain white rice, but adding tiny pastas in and then red, orange and green lentils has made it all colourful enough as well! If you put down a dark coloured sheet then he can see it better but the sheet I use is white and he still loves it!

~Emma~ · « **Reply #31 on:** June 17, 2010, 11:41:00 am »

He had better like it! I'm getting excited!

~*Nicole*~ · « **Reply #32 on:** June 17, 2010, 14:16:30 pm »

DD still eats hers...and seems to like it EWWWW. I used white vinegar and ziplock baggies. I will say though, mine didn't dry well on a cookie sheet in the oven b/c I had too much rice piled up so keep that in mind. You need to spread it thin to get it to really dry out! Our container that we store it in smells like vinegar LOL

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Author Topic: Great activity for 2ish year olds! (Read 6344 times)