Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Open-Ended Bag

In our home, the alter-ego of the humble shopping bag is the 'Open-Ended Bag' (when I talk about it), or the 'Surprise Bag' (when I talk to Eden about it). I put a stack of related things into the bag and leave it on our rug for her to find, and when she does I give her the space to explore the items and do what she wants with it; much like the heuristic play activities I set up for baby Ava.

 In this bag was a paper-towel roll holder, a toilet roll holder, a handful of hairties, some bangles, a Pringles tube (so many uses!), some cardboard cylinders of different thicknesses, a yoghurt container, a roll of masking tape, a fabric 'basket', a pirate eyepatch, a little metal bucket, a long box and a shoebox (to use as a ramp).
Eden really enjoyed unpacking the bag's contents and experimenting with what she could do with them. She tried rolling various items down the 'ramp' (shoebox), squishing all the items inside the Pringles container and making 'scarecrows' with the roll holders.
We actually got a fair bit of mileage out of this bag; I pulled it out about four or five times, and she played with it for about half an hour or so each time. I like offering these bags because they give her the opportunity to use her imagination and engage in some lateral thinking. She also seems to enjoy the whole exploration/discovery side of things too.
So, what's in your bag?

2 comments:

  1. Loving your neat ideas! They're so simple, cheap(or sometimes free!) and easy to put together! I'm going over all your old posts now! :D

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    Replies
    1. Thanks you Nabiha, you've just made my day :D

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