Discovery boxes

 
 Goal for today...assemble discovery boxes for the daycare....after several trips to the store for more boxes and supplies that goal was accomplished!    i've had most of these discovery sets for years, I just stored them in large ziplox bags and had one or two available for play at a time, but this summer with the ages of my daycare kids I wanted to make them more accessible for the kids on a daily basis thus the move to boxes. I am always on the look out for new themes and have found dollar stores, target's dollar spot, craft stores, yard sales and even the grocery store are great places to find inexpensive items. (dried rice and beans make great fill for the boxes and kids love digging in them) when I have a good selection a new theme set is created.  Pinterest is another awesome source for ideas, I have created a folder just for sensory boxes on my Pinterest board. Another great source is Etsy if you don't want to search for items for a sensory box, many etsy sellers have pre-made sets available for a reasonable cost.  Try searching for sensory bins, there have been times when I have found a theme set for far less cost than if I would have purchased all the supplies myself.  

 
in progress

  
construction theme, I found the sand and gold colored gravel at Walmart.  The construction set was from a dollar store.

 
I spy...so many ways to play with this one.  With the smaller ones just simply I spy....  older kids sort and discover.  This is one of the favorite sets we have.

  
ocean...this one we added  water beads to before play.  water beads increase in size when added to water they resemble marbles at full size and are slippery and fun sensory experience. 

  
carpentry waiting to add a couple of pieces of wood, a hammer and nails to this set.

 

penguins, blue rice, Styrofoam to resemble ice and penguins

 

color sorting....endless things to sort in the basic colors.  great for all ages.

 

polar themed  more styrofoam and cotton balls, this one was simple i just looked for white items when shopping the more variety adds to the sensory experience.

 

frog pond....another that water is added to.  kids love water play.  I made the lily pads using foam and flowers from the dollar store.  I free cut the lily pad shape and poked the flower stem through.  It isn't perfect but the kids love balancing frogs on the pads while they float in the water.

 

forest themed...this one required some shopping in my yard :)  twigs, and pinecones added the right forestry feel to this set.

 

space themed I will adding a set of planets to this once they arrive.  Also star punched shapes.  the fill is a blue plastic tablecoth cut into squares, and strips.

 

safari animal themed pebbles, tiny pieces of wood, sand and a mirror to resemble a lake.

 

farm themed corn and beans are the fill, farm animals and tractors I purchased this one from etsy for under 10 dollars. 

 
dinosaur themed....this is always a popular theme.  often when I find new items that will work with a theme I will add them in, the wood circle disks I added just recently.  The endless creativity that the kids explore with these never ceases to amaze me.

 

this set is great for the younger kids the fill is cheerios, perfect for that age that puts everything in their mouth.  I used larger toddler appropriate toys.  The older kids enjoy this as much as the small ones.

 

bugs and butterflies...the fill is green shredded paper.