This activity didn’t technically start off in a box like the other Discovery Box activities, but because it is of the same ilk I have filed it under the same name.
I cut some bottles of different sizes and transparencies so that I was left with a collection of funnels.
She loves anything related to pouring (usually water OUT of the bath onto the floor!) so I knew this would be right up her street.
I showed her how to make a funnel sit inside one of the tubs, but after that I left her to it to see what she wanted to do with the materials.
She made a fabulous mess while tipping, scooping, pouring and mixing.
Baby girl was interested in having a go too so I sat her in her highchair and gave her some boxes and a funnel and some larger pasta to explore with. It was really nice to have an activity that they could both do together for once.
I turned over one of the funnels for her and she concentrated really hard on dropping the pasta in one at a time and then re-discovering them underneath the pot.
Here is a glimpse of the mess that ensued. I was successful for about 2 minutes in getting C to help me tidy it up by suggesting we make mountains out of it (ie please sweep this up into a pile for me!) She’s getting too smart to keep it up for long 😉
I have kept this in a zip-loc bag for another day, along with a growing odd assortment of tactile materials in tubs in the kitchen cupboard. What’s a girl to do without a classroom?
This activity is good for:
* sensory play
* hand- eye co-ordination
* fine motor skills
* measuring and capacity (early maths)
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You should so share that with another mum who’s into messy play.
this is fabulous! we’ve done similar activities with scooping rice and beans into bowls and pans, but never with a funnel. we’ll definitely try that! one thing i do to help contain the mess, is put all of the materials into a large tub. my daughter can then pour and dump to her heart’s content. when clean up time comes, i’ll pull out all of the bowls and scoopers, and then simply pour all of the contents (rice, lentils, etc) back into the container that they came from.
Thanks! Yes I definitely should have used a tub as it was very hard to see it once it fell on the floor. Think I will be feeling it under my feet for days 🙂
I’m so excited to find your blog! I’m always looking for sensory-based developmental play ideas- these are awesome. Thank you!
Way too terrified of mess to try this one out. Maybe this summer when we can do it outside! Looks like your little ones are really enjoying it though.
This was wonderful fun! We used rice, pasta and tapioca seeds, and my 2 yo delighted in sweeping it up afterwards too 🙂