MATERIALS

~ silly putty 

~ assorted coins 

~ small container with lid

~ scissors

It was one of those days. I had planned a Saturday of exploring and digging in the sand at our neighborhood park, but awoke to a downpour and watched those plans get rained out.

Well, necessity is the mother of invention. And, this mother was not throwing in the towel yet. Since digging and discovery were on the menu, I looked through a few craft boxes and the drawer where the odds and ends get stored. Success!

The silly putty went into a container and I asked Sofia to count out twelve coins and mix them into it. She was so excited to help put the activity together and it was great work for her little fingers to push and pull the silly putty all around to ‘bury’ the coins. While she was doing that, I went to work on the container with a lid. Using a pair of scissors, I cut a slit in the top of it, a bit longer than the biggest coin. To make sure her fingers didn’t get scraped by the edges of the plastic, I used a small bit of tape to smooth out the opening.

Then, I let our daughter begin to dig for treasure! She proudly counted out each coin, and alternated giving her hands a turn to dig for the coins so that they both got a workout. Listening to her hum while she talked herself through it ‘…looking for coin #3…I know you’re in there, because I put you in there…’ was a fun bonus!

[you could use a piggy bank for this, but I found that she really loved seeing the coins drop into the container. that, and the only piggy bank she has is 1) big and 2) breakable. so, a plastic container is very forgiving!]