Under The Sea themed Treasure Basket: Being inspired by the recent monthly book club package we were sent I have decided to put together a sea themed treasure basket for Kipper. He’s had a basic treasure basket now for a while, however as he’s starting to get more curious I want to start mixing it up a bit, although I am not sure I am going to be able to get him away from his beloved wooden spoon.
The idea behind a treasure basket is that its made up of things from around your home, effectively ‘non toys’ which encourage exploration and discovery. They need to be safe to mouth especially if you are putting one together for a baby like Kipper. Always check to make sure that the items you are putting in do not pose a choking hazard and keep an eye on the items to ensure they stay clean and unbroken. With Monkey I had got into the habit of keeping an eye out for sensory materials whenever we were out and about. Consequently I now have boxes of the stuff!
Here are some suggestions of items you could include in your basket and a list of what we included. Where ever possible I chose items in sea colours
- Shells of various sizes and shapes
- Sea sponge
- Large pebbles
- Netting (body polisher)
- Silk scarf
- Sequin scarf
- Velvet ribbon
- Velvet ball
- Heat Blanket
- Silver Ball
- Wooden crab toy
- Wooden fish toy
- Glass fish
- Palm stones
- Rubber duck
- Bottle with little pebbles
- Bottle with dyed blue water, yellow sand and small shells
- Sensory Pat Bag with blue water and small fish
- Sand paper
- Drift wood
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It is best to put all the items in a low circular basket which allows your baby easy access to the them. Kipper really enjoyed exploring the items his favourites were the sequin scarf, sea sponge and the bottle with the little stones in. I think this is because he loves anything which makes a noise. This basket kept him entertained for around half an hour. Unlike Monkey he does require me to explore with him to keep his interest. Whereas Monkey at a similar age would play unaided for about forty five minutes.
It will not be long until I can get all the the items out of box, I never let him play unsupervised because of the risk of choking. If you would like to see our other posts on treasure baskets please see the links below – although be warned these are some of the first posts I ever wrote!
- Metal Treasure Basket
- Natural Treasure Basket
- Wood Treasure Basket
- Textile Treasure Basket
- Hearts & Brushes Treasure Basket
- Black & White Treasure Basket
Have you put together a treasure basket for your little one? If you did what would you include?
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10 Responses
Such a gorgeous treasure basket. I love putting them together for my youngest, although they are never this well thought out!
I love a good treasure baskets! I like them being mainly sensorial for the under 1, but as a grown up, I like to put a topic in it, knowing that it’s mainly for me (as my babies didn’t know when they were babies that it was all “farm” related items or whatever else I was coming with!)
I wrote a similar blog post a few months ago, as treasure baskets are greatly promoted in the Montessori education
I’ve kept meaning to do this for eldest and youngest but not got round to doing it sadly. #SharingtheBlogLove
This is such a lovely idea! Sadly Max wasn’t into things like this at all, but I’m hoping that the new baby will be a bit more adventurous and open to exploring sensory things! I really like the idea of creating a theme around it – it makes it that little bit more fun for you to put together. Thanks for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove
Oh wow what a lovely collection if things for him to explore! I loved reading about treasure baskets online but never got round to putting one together in time. I feel a bit sad about that now!
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We had a sensory basket for both my girls and the loved it. Great idea to do a themed one, then you can change it up when things get a bit worn. Thank you for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove
Ah I’ve never done these really – though I have just given a wooden spoon, plastic tupperware, a small pan and a silicone lemon squeezer thing to my daughter! She’s 2 and a bit now so I wonder if she’s too old now? #SharingtheBlogLove
Lovely choice of theme for this basket – I’m very jealous of those palm stones, they look perfect for a treasure basket! Those glass fish are fabulous too. Also, what a great idea to include a themed discovery bottle – Love the colours and textures you’ve got going there.
What an absolutely fabulous idea! I remember when my daughter was small, her favourite thing to do was unpack and repack a basket, do we used to do a smiliar thing…. love the themed part of it!
This is so super cute!