My inspiration for this craft came from a very popular indoor sand play table at the Children's Discovery Museum in Acton. The table has a light underneath and is roughly the size of three serving trays. I wanted a way for my kids to have a similar experience at home, and thought using food would be a good idea since my 10-month-old still puts everything in his mouth.
Materials:
- Serving tray (I got mine for $1.99 at Ikea)
- Coarsely ground flour. Rice flour works well because it absorbs moisture more slowly, but I combined the rice flour with corn meal to give it more color. A really coarse grain like Scottish/Irish oatmeal works well too.
- Child-safe silverware for making patterns (I got place settings for six for $1.99, again at Ikea)
STEPS
1) Find a tray with some edge, but not tall enough that it's hard for children to reach inside
2) add coarsely ground flour
3) Time to play!
If my kids were older, I think it would be fun to add dry beans for them to use to make patterns.
