This Discovery Box consisted of two huge box lids, plenty of cardboard tubes of differing lengths, plastic milk jugs with holes cut in the bottom, cups, sieves, egg cartons, pots, funnels and spoons for scooping and pouring with. I also put in a big roll of masking tape and our big tub of sensory play materials, which currently consists of dried pasta shapes, Shreddies and a mixture of dried beans and pulses.
And I sat in a box with them and watched as they set about tipping and pouring, scooping and transporting.
It was a wonderful, big mess, but it was semi-contained within the parameters of the boxes. Not that we mind a bit of mess!
Cakie led the way by angling one of the tubes over the edge and into her trolley. She then worked out that it would act as a slide and had a great time sending all the bits down it and running to collect them. I helped her by sticking the tube onto the box so it would stay still. After about 5 minutes she didn’t like that anymore and ripped it off. Much better idea! (who needs Mummy around interfering all the time?)
Look at the concentration! Little Pop loved shooting the beans down one of the long tubes and gained accuracy very quickly. Great for motor skills and hand-to-eye coordination too.
I helped Cakie when she asked for it, tearing and attaching tape where she wanted it to go. We built this large tube-shoot together and she loved tipping things down it and watching it fly out of the bottom. Then she went and found another container to modify and improve on her design, sticking it underneath to catch the pieces as they fell.
Then she worked on a more mobile version! This time with a double tube insert and landing at the bottom in a milk jug with a hole in its side.
Thinking and investigating.
And what happens if I do this?
Read about all our other Discovery Boxes here. See what simple, investigative, open ended fun you can have with very simple resources from around the home!
This activity is good for:
- sensory play
- science and knowledge of the world: trial and error/ investigating outcomes/ gravity and simple forces
- creativity: building and constructing with recycled materials/ fixing using tape/ building towers and shoots
- maths: construction/ building/ using 3D shapes in play
- PHSE: working together/ taking turns/ collaboration/ modifying ideas and trying again
- motor skills: fine motor precision/ gross motor lifting, tipping, fixing/ hand-eye-coordination