Sensory Experience for Babies...with Seeds!

Whenever I see a bowl full of cherries, nuts, candy or any other homogenous object filled to the top of a bowl, I have the incredible urge to dig my hands into it! Think of the ball pits we used to play in as kids! 

Remembering this I thought it would be fun to do some kind of repetitive immersion for a baby. I had just came across some beautifully colored lentils and beans, so I thought they'd be fun to try out. I started with setting up a large bedsheet (to catch mess), cookie trays (too heavy for baby to dump), shallow dishes (holds a decent amount but not too much that it makes a crazy mess when baby dumps them out), and a selection of colorful, tiny, and nice feeling seeds. I also put my boppy pillow behind her so she didn't fall backwards, which still happens at 7 months to us! Wesco 1432 Polyester and Cotton Fabric Best Value Boppy - Small

Seeds used here from left to right: flax, red lentils, quinoa, french lentils and mung beans.

You might ask, aren't these choking hazards? The size of the seed is key. The seeds are too tiny to pose much of a problem should she put them in her mouth. Not that you should invite that as they are uncooked and would not be easy to digest if swallowed. But it would be pretty difficult for the baby to get too far with them if you are watching. Larger seeds like pinto beans, black-eyed peas rice, NO! They are too big and close to choking size. The seeds I used can be found at your local grocery store or health food store (Whole Foods if you have one).

Close-up of set up, pre-exploration

Let the games begin! Baby is winding up to grab, feel, and dump.

Emptying things is so much fun!

This little experience I set up is also a great opportunity for baby to practice filling and dumping (well, you're filling and she's dumping).

Having great fun moving seeds around.

The texture of these seeds are really nice. They also can make fun patterns!

 

Post-play. The mess isn't too bad.

The mess wasn't too unmanageable. I dumped the trays into a ziploc bag for later, folded sheet up and shook outside for birds to eat. Less than 5 minutes.

For older kids, you can have them make a design using lentils. I found this link to another mom's blog that showed this: http://craft-craft.net/fall-leaf-mosaics-with-lentils-tutorial.html

Someone also made a "Hello Kitty" out of lentils which was pretty impressive!
http://www.google.com/imgres?start=207&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1440&bih=766&tbm=isch&tbnid=FwLDWYSx6z261M:&imgrefurl=http://www.cropart.com/suzannemears/002SMHelloKitty.htm&docid=npkuJLNZ_lH8tM&imgurl=http://www.cropart.com/suzannemears/images/SM05HelloKitty.png&w=500&h=403&ei=kAYFUNTrGY24qQHSvJHSCA&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=379&sig=106899912053982960766&page=7&tbnh=131&tbnw=168&ndsp=36&ved=1t:429,r:26,s:207,i:210&tx=80&ty=111

I was hoping to find some links to traditional Indian art with lentils, but had no luck. If any readers have some links they know of, please share! Could be a fun cultural activity.