Sandpit Treasure Hunt
Summer has ended. Yes I know, it’s a huge let down, but it’s over – all we can do is put away our sun cream and summer dresses and start looking forward to Christmas. I am starting to slowly pack away the toys in the garden and leave everything tidy. the children will still have the play house and trampoline for any nice days but we won’t get as much use out of the smaller toys.
But before I put away the sandpit there was one activity we had to do…
Last thing at night I hid lots of pretend treasure from their pirate treasure chest in the sand pit. I left the empty treasure box by the back door with a note inside. I have to admit I didn’t spend long writing the note and making it more pirate-ified, but it did the trick. I used sight words so that Molly could read it on her own, as I always look for opportunities to get her to read.
The note read:
To Molly, Charlotte and Rose, My coins are gone! Help me find them. Look at the map. Love from, Pirate Squid-bonesThen I drew a very simple map of the garden with an x at the sandpit. Molly was pretty confused and excited when she found the box. She asked lots of questions about how the pirate had got in the house and where his boat was. She didn’t ask why he wrote with my handwriting, or whether pirates would sign their notes with “love from” or why he couldn’t find his treasure when it was only a couple of meters away from the empty treasure box.
Anyway Molly soon rounded up her little helpers and they had found the sandpit using the map. After that she lost interest. The twins spent ages digging the treasure out of the sandpit. they were especially taken with all the gold rings.
When it was time to come inside I had laid out a sensory bin for them to play with, containing the remainder of the pirate treasure. Inside the treasure box are lots of pretend gold coins and jewellery for party favours. There was also a pirate eye patch and a toy mirror. I put it in a large tray and left a few small containers for sorting. The twins enjoyed exploring and sorting the objects for the nest couple of days when they need a quiet time.
To make a treasure chest from a cardboard box look here!
I am linking to Get Crafty, Tuesday Tots, Tiptoe Through Tuesday, Let’s Play, Science Sparks
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I never really knew how important sensory play was, until just recently. This is a good idea. Thanks so much for linking up to Tip Toe thru Tuesday. I hope we see you again this week.
Christy recently posted..Scarf Necklace {Tutorial}
Me too, I never did that much with my eldest – we did more convention al arts and crafts – but the twins really love it.
A great activity idea. We tried this a little while ago during our pirate and princess week. The children loved the activity and worked well as a team collecting coins.
Oh it’ll be fun when the twins are a bit older and can help too. I need a bit of a bigger garden though to make the treasure hunt part more realistic!
oooh lovely idea. My three love chocolate coins!
Thanks for linking to Science Sparks xx
Emma @sciencesparks recently posted..Halloween Spooky glow in the dark goo!
Everybody loves chocolate coins.
(that may have been a Peppa Pig quote!)
This looks like quite an adventure. Be a great one for a birthday party activity! Thanks for sharing on Country Kids.
Coombemill – Fiona recently posted..Country Kids from Coombe Mill
Oh that’s a good idea. A pirate party!
A lovely activity! I wish we still had our sand pit.
Found via the Country Kids linky
I get so tired sweeping ups and though!
looks like great fun was had x
cakesphotoslife (Angie) recently posted..All chocolate (Bake it Fair with The FairTrade Foundation)
Yes it’s always the simple things which are the best.