Treasure Baskets: Getting Started

As we began the school year this year, my first year "homeschooling" Kyla (4), I was not sure how I was going to include my 22 month old son, Kendrick, on our school days.  I started doing some research on some blogs... and this is what I found: Treasure Baskets!  Generally, Treasure Baskets can be used from the time a baby can sit up on their own, and grab things.  Kendricks baskets will be different from the kind of basket a 6-12 month old might use, as his will be aimed more for toddler age.

The idea behind the Treasure Basket is to include a variety of items in different shapes, colors, sizes, and textures.  This is to explore the sences, and can also be used to teach your child new things through play.

If you would like to create a Treasure Basket there are so many resources out there, with great ideas to get you started! Feel free to check out some of the places I've visited (keep reading to see). Don't be shy to get creative and think up your own ideas if you're contemplating! Or, you can just straight copy the ideas from these baskets.  The great thing here is that these are easy to make, and can be so cheap, or even FREE... because you should be able to find so many things around your home that will work for these!

"Plastics" Treasure Basket

Treasure Basket blog ideas to get you started:

• Nurture Store
• Chalkboards to Strollers
• The Imagination Tree
• The Learning Ark
• Little Acorns to Mighty Oaks

If you're going to make a basket you should probably want to leave out any potentially dangerous items (you know the lighter, matches, needles, knives, windex, lead... stuff they can choke on, poison themselves with... or possibly burn themselves or the house down with).    SAFETY FIRST!  It is important to be near by and watching your child(ren) closely as they experiment with the items you put in their baskets.  I also read somewhere to make sure if you're going to add something leather in there to ensure that it's genuine leather, the fake stuff can be toxic.  Just use common sense, and if you're not sure, leave it out... or google it?

Anyway... in case you are wondering, I plan to make 1-2 new Treasure Baskets per week. I imagine I will most likely end up repeating some of the baskets and re-using alot of the materials in future baskets. I had fun searching the house high and low for basket fillers this week. And it actually got me organizing little spots in the house that had gone unnoticed (imagine that) for a while.

There really is SO MUCH you can do with these Treasure Baskets, and they can be such a great teaching tool if you want to get more involved. The great thing is that they are so versatile! If you make a Treasure Basket that you want to show off, share, or brag about, please email me pictures and a description, as I would love to feature you on my blog!

xoxo
Heidi