There is a particular kind of quiet that settles over a room when a child is properly absorbed in something. It is not silence — there is usually a great deal of pouring involved — but it is unmistakable. Here is how we set it up.
What you need
Almost nothing, and probably nothing you have to buy. The list below is a starting point rather than a shopping trip.
- A tray with a lip. A baking tray works. The edge is what keeps this from becoming a floor-sweeping exercise.
- A base material. Dried rice, lentils, oats, or clean sand. For younger children who still taste everything, use oats or cooked pasta.
- Things to move it with. Wooden scoops, a small jug, measuring spoons, an old teapot.
- Things to fill. Small jars, egg cups, a muffin tin. The filling and emptying is the whole activity.
- One surprise. A handful of pine cones, some shells, a few wooden animals buried under the surface to be discovered.
Setting the invitation
The word invitation is doing real work here. You are not presenting an activity with instructions — you are arranging a few things attractively on a tray and then walking away. Put the tray on a low table where they will find it. Resist the urge to demonstrate.
Arrange it as you would a still life: the jug to one side, the jars grouped, the surprise half-hidden. It takes an extra ninety seconds and it is the difference between a tray of rice and something a child wants to approach.
Set it out, step back, and let the pouring begin.
What happens next
Usually: twenty minutes of intense concentration, a period of experimentation involving dropping things from height, and then a long stretch of narrative play where the egg cups become a family and the pine cones are their dinner.
Your job during this is to be nearby and largely uninvolved. Answer questions. Do not improve their technique. If they want to mix all the carefully separated materials together, that is not the activity going wrong — that is the activity.
On the mess
There will be rice on the floor. A sheet or an old towel underneath catches most of it, and sweeping up together at the end is genuinely part of it rather than a chore bolted on. A small dustpan and brush within their reach makes this much more likely to happen.
Four variations by season
- Spring: soil, seeds, small pots, and a jug of water. Plant something at the end of it.
- Summer: a tray of water, ice cubes, and herbs from the garden. Best done outdoors.
- Autumn: conkers, acorns, dried leaves, and a set of tongs for sorting.
- Winter: dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks, and cloves. The room will smell extraordinary.
Packing it away
Keep the dry base material in a lidded jar and it will last all year. We keep a shallow wooden box with the scoops, jars, and tongs in it so that setting up next time takes two minutes rather than ten. The whole thing lives on a low shelf, which means the children sometimes set it up themselves, which is the actual goal.
For more unhurried ideas, see Little Ones. If you would like somewhere to keep the treasures that come out of these afternoons, there are a few options in the little shop.