Thursday, May 24, 2012

Baby Heueristic Treasure Basket

I've been intrigued with the idea of a heuristic basket for some time, so I went ahead on a lark the other day and tossed one together for James. He's 6.5 months old, sitting unassisted, and just hitting the "explores everything with the mouth" stage.



A heuristic basket, or treasure basket, contains everyday household items, preferably made from natural materials, that are safe for a baby to explore while supervised. I just filled mine with natural materials I had laying around my craft room, the playroom, and the kitchen. I would not leave James unattended with these things, but I feel comfortable with him touching and mouthing them while I'm present.

natural sea sponge, cotton sack with wool drawstring, glass baby food jar, woven basket, wooden spoon/block/turning, simple wooden instruments Meg got at a Musik Garten class once, and a playsilk




In the future, I might add more metal items, but don't currently have any food-grade metal objects (no lead or other gross stuff) with blunt edges on hand. A pinecone and large, smooth shell would be nice as well. Perhaps I'll knit some small lovies or toys from wool yarn. I'd love to also make him some Big Gnomes for Wee Hands, but I need to find a source for affordable wool felt first.

I love that this is a toy I can change up to keep fresh and add to little by little.


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1 comment:

Chrissy @ The Outlaw Mom Blog@ said...

Neat - I had no idea what a heuristic basket was and now I know! Looks like a great play idea for baby. Thanks for sharing :-)