Yesterday we did some outdoor Christmas decorating and we went to our local Santa Claus Parade. Needless to say, I have all things Christmas on my mind!

Peanut really enjoyed rummaging around in our big container of decorations. He’s too young to remember last Christmas, so this is all new to him. After he went to bed I put together a little bin just for him filled with decorations and other little “treasures” in seasonal colors.

Here’s what I put in the bin:

• Plastic red and gold apple decorations
• A gold drum decoration and gold sequined ball decoration
• Red, green, and white pom poms
• Red, green, and white tissue paper (save tissue paper from gifts you receive – there are lots of ways to re-use it in kids activities & crafts)
• Scraps of red and green fabric in different sizes
• Red, gold, and white ribbon

I separated the items into Christmas tins and put them in a plastic bin. I stuffed the tissue paper in the gaps around the tins.

These two little guys were hiding in one of the tins:

Peanut spotted the bin as soon as he came into the kitchen this morning. He took it to the couch where he had a marvelous time discovering, rearranging, and dumping its contents.

 Once he was finished we put everything back in the bin and on a shelf within his reach.

This is a good alternative to a rice or cloud dough based sensory bin. There is much less mess and it is safe for younger toddlers and babies (I’d suggest omitting the pom poms if you’re going to set this up for a baby or a little one who puts things in his/her mouth).

-Ann

Have you made a “treasure” bin for your child or let him/her get into your decorations? Please share here or on the Facebook page.