Indoor Play Time!

I've been sick all week so Matthew has been stuck inside with me all week, poor kid. So today I decided to try a new activity, an indoor sandbox. It sounds scary, and if you are a big neat freak, it's probably not a good choice, but it's really not too bad. You are supposed to fill a baby bathtub with dry rice or beans and let the kids play with it like a sandbox. I didn't have enough of anything to fill a baby bathtub, so I just filled a big bowl with dry rice. I put down a big flat bed sheet first to contain the mess. Then we got the bowl of rice and a bunch of measuring cups and funnels and spoons and stuff. Matthew was a little unsure about it at first. He poked at the rice but eventually warmed up to it and went in with both hands. He picked up handfuls of it and dumped it on the sheet. He scooped it from the big bowl to a little bowl. He stirred it with the spoons. He taste tested the rice and pronounced it "yuck". I think I'll try it again, but maybe keep it contained in the bathroom or use dry beans or dry pasta. Overall, Matthew liked it and it kept him entertained for a good half hour or so. After we cleaned up the rice Matthew was really excited to keep playing on the big sheet I had laid down. We played parachute with it, put a big pillow underneath it to climb on, played peekaboo with it and eventually built a fort. I think Matthew may have liked playing with the sheet more.