Manipulative Boxes

KK, my daughter, spent about 10 weeks in daycare from the time I returned from maternity leave to the end of the school year before I started my leave of absence. She was surrounded by a lot of stimulation, activities, and different experiences every day. So, one of my concerns was that she'd be bored at home when it was just the two of us and the same old toys every day. It only took a couple of weeks before I realized I'd needed a solution. She was seeing the same old toys every day and I was finding it difficult to not just pull out the same toys over and over because they were on top of the toy box.

As I started brainstorming ideas, I thought back to my semester spent teaching in an infant classroom at the University of Kansas. We would rotate toys out for new ones everyday. I wanted to figure out a system similar to this that I could manage in my home. What I came up with was manipulative boxes. It is a set of five shoebox size tubs, numbered 1-5, and filled with different toys. I've loved this system. In the morning I grab a box, dump it out on her blanket, and she plays away. At the end of the night when I'm cleaning up, the toys go back in the box and everything is nice and neat, ready to go for the next day, and KK gets a whole new box of toys to explore the next day.

A manipulative box in action.

Materials Needed:

• 5-7 shoebox size plastic storage tubs
• A variety of infant friendly toys (see the contents list for each box below)
• Magic Marker or labels

The toys in the manipulative boxes are all small, hands on toys. They are the toys that are used to entertain KK while I'm cooking, cleaning, or busy otherwise. They're NOT the toys I want to use when it's time to interact with her. I do play with her and these toys at least once a day to encourage her to interact with them in different ways, but I can also leave her to play on her own with everything that goes into these boxes. Because, lets face it, as much as I'd love to spend every second playing with Miss KK, there is a lot of other things to be taken care of throughout the day.

Manipulative Box

Instructions:

1. Number each box
2. Fill with a variety of small infant friendly toys
3. Find a place to store your boxes
4. Bring out a new box for baby to explore every day  

(Easy, huh?)

Another piece of advice, obviously your little one will have some of their favorite toys that they could spend hours playing with every day. Don't feel as though every toy needs to be rotated out with the manipulative boxes. If your baby loves Sophie the Giraffe, leave Sophie out so they can play with it every day. Also, I don't place big item toys in the boxes, the storage for that would take up way too much space and the large toys are much easier to sort through and grab something different every day.

I made a list of the toys I included in each box for ideas of what to put in your own. Don't think this is set in stone! Place toys in the box you already have around the house or that your baby particularly enjoys! For instance, KK loves C-links to chew on, so even though they're a pretty simple toy, I have some in each box because she likes them so much. Just fill them with what you think is best for your baby!

Box #1	Box #2	Box #3	Box #4	Box #5
Mix & Match Book Rattle Cloth Book Soft Rattle C Links Flower Teether Owl Toy	Cardboard Book C Links Soft Rattle Oball Cloth Book Fish Rattle Play Keys	Play Cell Phone Cardboard Book Alphabet C Links Soft Rattle Teddy Bear Rattle OBall Rattle Wrist Rattle Caterpillar Ball Set	Finger Puppets Sensory Teether Noise Maker Cardboard Book Taggie Blanket Twisty Teether	Cardboard Book Owl Rattle Oball Wrist Rattles Rattle Squeeker Blocks Soft Rattle

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