Preschool: Forest Life Discovery Box

Little boys are hard to shop for. And it does not get much easier as they turn into men. I never know what to buy my husband. I usually end up getting him socks and t-shirts. Yeah, I am so fun. :( But this year I hit it out of the park. It was kinda a make-up-for-all-the-crappy-gifts kind of present. He got a iPad. It is awesome. And I am officially the best wife ever! So that should cover me for the next few years of birthdays, anniversaries and Christmases right?

Back to gifts for little boys...
 Kristy and Kaleb are some of our best friends. Their little boy turned 4. I met him a few days after he was born. Perfect, he was, of course. ( Wow, that sounded like Yoda.) We celebrated his birthday this weekend. He had a special magic show from Uncle Bean. It was awesome. A huge Balloon octopus, balloon hats, tricks and laughs! You should click his name and check out his website. If you live in the PA, MD WV,VA area... book him! He even has a family variety show that he and his buddy, Jon do. Check out the link to Haywire on his site. Seriously! And I am not just saying all this because he is MY uncle. Or because I gave him the name Uncle Bean. ( He is my uncle and I did give him the name... but I would totally say all that stuff even if I didn't know him!) Funny and family friendly! :) So click the link people. Ok, plug over.

So food, fun, magic, family and presents! But what to get this kid? Well I made him a discovery box/Sensory box. Kids LOVE these. It borders the concept of a rice table. I promise you, at school, these are always a hit!

Here is how I made it:

I purchased A Safari North American Wildlife Toob of tiny toys from Michaels with a 40% off coupon. I also bought there Tree toob. With the coupon, it made them less than 5 bucks a toob! You can also purchase them from Amazon, but they are more pricey there.

I then bought 4 bags of dried green split peas at walmart for .78 a bag!!!

I grabbed a small bag of decorative rocks for about $2.00 at Michael's as well as a packet of water beads. These are awesome! They are super tiny. You put them in water and in a few hours they grow! They are the blue "lake" in my discovery box. They were also $2.00 and I got TONS! 

Lastly, I got a green storage bin with a lid at walmart for about 5 bucks.

The big smooth rocks are from around my pool and deck. :) I stole two! :) 

Then, just put it together! 

The kids love playing in the peas, feeling them, scooping them, occasionally dumping them on the floor.  *Messy kids are happy kids* :) 

I put the enlarged water beads (or water gems) in a small Ziploc container that has a lid. You can snap the lid on after playing is done to keep them from spilling or drying out. 

 I just love that little river otter! 

My bear caught a fish!

 Some stickers and a bow finish it up! 

The possibilities are endless! :)