Snack Time Play Time: 3 Kids Activities Using Cereal
By Alana Pace
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As a proponent of play-based learning, the question I get asked the most by parents is how to make kids activities baby-safe and taste safe. It goes without saying, toddlers LOVE to put things into their mouths. There are some preschoolers who continue to discover their environment through oral input too. For these children, glue, pom poms, googly eyes and other standard craft materials might not be the best. The truth is though, taste-safe kids’ activities can be so much fun!
Recently, my kids and I took some of our favourite cereals and came up with different play-based learning ideas.
1. Puffed Rice Sensory Bin
Sensory play is any play that involves the senses. Of course, taste-safe play is a wonderful way to procure the benefits of this type of play. What you need- Nature's Path Puffed Rice Cereal or similar (Koala Crisp is awesome for this too)
- A large clean bin or container
- Themed materials (optional)
- Large kitchen utensils (i.e. slotted spoons, spaghetti spoons, tongs, plastic cups)
- Dump cereal into bin.
- Add thematic items if you so choose. Examples include ocean, garden, frog pond, zoo, or farm animal themes. Recently, we did a garden theme and used small, clean garden tools, fabric flowers and butterflies.
- Option to make your own funnel using the top of a plastic bottle. Add electrical or duct tape around the top if the edges are sharp. This tends to work better than a traditional funnel because the mouth is wider.
- Enjoy!
2. Whole O's Fine Motor Skill Practice
What you need- Nature's Path Whole O's Cereal
- Dried spaghetti noodles
- Play dough
- Magnetic toy numbers (optional)
- Play a portion of play dough onto a clean table. Find taste-safe play dough recipes here.
- Press spaghetti into play dough.
- Encourage your child to string the Whole O's onto the spaghetti.
- For older children, you can make the activity more complex by adding toy numbers in front of different mounds of play dough. Then ask your child to string the corresponding number of Whole O's onto the spaghetti.
- Or, simply let them pile as many as possible onto each noodle and have them count how many are on each.
3. Crafty Bug Counting
What you need- EnviroKidz Leapin' Lemurs cereal, Gorilla Munch, or similar
- Paper and pens or this printable
- Glue (optional)
- Tempera paint (optional)
- Print off printable or draw out bugs.
- Set out a small bowl of Leapin' Lemurs cereal.
- Encourage your child to place the cereal in the corresponding spots on the bugs.
- Option to glue the cereal to each bug and paint them!
I hope you enjoy these taste-safe kids activities as much as we did!
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