St. Patrick's Day Sensory Box (Part 1) -- Sifting for Leprechaun's Gold

Good morning! I'm really excited to share this one with everyone. I tried this fun sifting activity with my 1.5 year old a couple days ago. It was the first time I had introduced the process of sifting to her and she had a blast with it. Don't get me wrong... it took several (several, several) tries before she understood what the heck I was showing her. But, finally, she had fun trying the colander out for herself.

I prepared her sensory box during nap time, hence my blog's name Nap Time Blogger Mom.  I emptied a small tote out and filled it with baking soda. Why baking soda? No reason. You can use flour, corn meal, corn starch, etc. I used baking soda only because I know my daughter and I will reuse it in the future for some baking soda + vinegar play. Look out for Part 2 of my St. Patrick's Day Sensory Box where we add some green vinegar to our baking soda and watch the fun chemical reaction.

After the baking soda dust died down (there was much more than I was prepared for), I threw in a half a 30-pack of gold coins that I bought at the Dollar Tree. Then I wandered aimlessly around my house searching for other fun things to throw in. I ended up only finding a handful of buttons. For older kids, you can pretend-play that these are coal or other non-exciting finds. Then I ran outside and grabbed several rocks for her to have to play around. Lastly, I picked out the tools she would be using: a spoon, a small colander (from her play kitchen set), and some colorful popsicle sticks.

Now I just needed the kid. Once she was awake and ready, we sat down and she ran her hands through the baking soda. Much to her surprise she found the coins and buttons in there. I showed her the colander and explained how it worked while sifting and finding several coins/buttons myself. She enjoyed the shaking part , so be prepared for a mess (as always).

After one or two times, the sifting became too much of a chore and she used the popcicle sticks, spoon, and her hands to shovel her way through to her gold. If only finding real gold was this easy. :)