Ok So Here's An Idea

[erinalexmom]

My sister has been saving for me those little plastic baby food containers. You know the square/rectangle ones that are clear and have a clear lid? Well heres what I thought (I have an entire Walmart sack of them) I am going to send them home with my daycare kids with a note to parents (or talk to the parents at pick up) and I am going to ask them to take a few (maybe 5 for each family) and put something in them from thier house (they wont get it back) for an example I put uncooked macaroni in one. I was thinking maybe, a game piece or two from an old monopoly game. They can decide whatever they might like to put in there. Then I am going to tape them up with thick clear packing tape. Instant (and free :)) blocks :) like those blocks that you can buy that are clear and have little clowns or balls inside them. It would be cool to see what parents and kids come up with and I would think the kids would get a kick out of looking at all the different ideas. I am also going to add a few with different themes, like tiny apples or fake pumpkins in the fall. It would also be a neat memory for the parents and kids that they did together. Plus everytime a kid spots one of the "blocks" at daycare thier mom or dad did with them its a connection to home :)
Oh! and one catch for the parents! You cant "buy" the thing you put inside.This also might encourage parents in creativity for other things to do with thier kids :)

[nannyde]

Very creative so just consider my take on a few things:

Just a few safety things to consider:

The containers are very thin plastic with a quarter of an inch lip from the lid over the container.

When you tape it you are going to have a hollow space all around the perimeter of the lid.

You may have children who play with it by picking at the tape. Where the tape ends will be one spot. The gap between the lid and the container will be the other.

If they get the tape edge and are able to pull the tape off they can injest the tape.

Because they are so lightweight they can be easily crushed if a kid steps on them with their body weight. It may not crumple when it gets smashed. You may have it break off in shards. Considering how thin the plastic is you could end up with shards going thru their socks or their bare feet.

You could also have them sit on them which will have the same result as above.

As far as stacking: The edges of the containers are rounded and indented. The top is about 3.25 inches in width and 2.5 inches across the bottom. That 3/4 inch difference PLUS the indentation is going to make them more of a challenge to stack and keep stacked. The ones under three will most likely only be able to get a couple together before they knock them over. The more lightweight the block the more of a challenge it is to get one on top of the other on top of the other.

With the bottom of the container being rounded and indented they will not fit flush upon each other to stack.

The idea is great for a specialty activity with supervision and assistance. I would NOT have them out in general play without an adult watching the way they are playing with them especially if the contents are chokeable. It wouldn't take much for a kid to get thru the tape unless you had the tape pretty layered.

The more layered the tape the less "stackable" they will be if the tape goes over the bottom.

[erinalexmom]

I can promise you nan they will be well supervised. I only have four kids so I sit in the same room with them all day and I thought I would take them out and put them up when they are done/I have something else to do. I already thought about the choking thing (I'm a nurse also ;)) so I was already thinking of making sure its all safety all the time LOL

[melskids]

ive hot glued them shut instead of tape. :)

[erinalexmom]

did they hold up well that way Mel?

[CheekyChick]

AWESOME idea!!! I think I may have to "borrow" that one from you... :)

[sharlan]

I wouldn't tape them, kids love to pick at tape. I would try hot glue.

These would be a good "table" toy. One that is played with at a table under supervision, just in case the lid comes off.

[erinalexmom]

yeah I never thought about hot glue. Its a good idea. I will be sitting with them when they play with them :) I thought about the choking thing alot cause I am paranoid LOL

[Abigail]

The first thing I thought was change the tape to glue. I would also give examples of items you DON'T want in it. (Anything with sharp edges like the tops off pop cans can be sharp; water--you might end up with colored water-filled containers if you forget to mention NO LIQUIDS, lol) You could make a list of general items as a sample idea list like noodles. Even though everyone will bring back a container with noodles since you mentioned it, they may all be different types of noodles! I would also mention that you need to fill the container HALF full or however full you want it to be. I think this is a wonderful recycling project. I'm sure you'll get some with rocks, marbles, maybe grass even. Let us know how it turns out!

[melskids]

did they hold up well that way Mel?

yeah...the hot glue worked great. the kiddos cant get them apart.

they do get crushed if stepped on though!

[Crystal]

You can also have parents put in only objects beginning with a letter of the alphabet. You'll need 26 containers of course. You can make cards with the letter, a picture of each object (take a photo and print/laminate) write the word of the object under each picture and have the kids match the objects to the picture while talking about the letter, saying the word and emphasizing the beginning sound. Then you can actually let the kids open them and use the materials inside for a languag/literacy activity AND they can stack them as blocks as well. Supervision, of course, is key....but then we all already knew that, didn't we? ;)

[Symphony]

I made a bunch of sensory bottles out of empty plastic pop bottle. We have bird seed ones with treasures hidden inside, lots of beads, pom poms, glitter in water, buttons in water, oil and colored water, etc. They were super glued shut and the first one was broken into this summer...six years later! I think this is a great idea :)

[SilverSabre25]

I made a bunch of sensory bottles out of empty plastic pop bottle. We have bird seed ones with treasures hidden inside, lots of beads, pom poms, glitter in water, buttons in water, oil and colored water, etc. They were super glued shut and the first one was broken into this summer...six years later! I think this is a great idea :)

20 oz bottles or 2 L?

[erinalexmom]

wow! those are all awsome ideas! I think Crystal I might steal your idea and use colors instead though because mine are still so young though. They are 2 but dont know thier colors or shapes yet. I love all the ideas! thank you so much!

[Country Kids]

I made a bunch of sensory bottles out of empty plastic pop bottle. We have bird seed ones with treasures hidden inside, lots of beads, pom poms, glitter in water, buttons in water, oil and colored water, etc. They were super glued shut and the first one was broken into this summer...six years later! I think this is a great idea :)

I'm so doing this! Thank you for posting this as I'm always looking for new, cool ideas. That is what I like about this forum-the new ideas that I can pick up that I know my kids will love. I think we will make these in the falls when all my preschoolers return. I will put diffent thinks out and let them choose what to put in. I may also have my school age kids make some for the preschoolers. This will be so fun!:Sunny: