You thought having a tiny baby was hard, and now your little bundle of joy started to MOVE! First it was just rolling around, and one day, when you looked away for a second, s/he sat up the first time! And now that those little hands are free to explore, they just don’t seem to stop! They touch EVERYTHING, carefully avoiding every single toy that you put in their way. Be it a hair tie or a spoon or your car keys (!!), eventually all these objects end up getting chewed and full of drool. Oh, the joy of having a sensory seeking baby! I hear you, Mamma, I’ve been there, too. This too shall pass! In the meantime, I’ve got something for you that will save you your sanity. And the best thing, setting it up will take about 3 minutes and will cost you next to nothing! Let’s roll up our imaginary sleeves and dive into the magic of Treasure Basket Play.
WHAT IS A TREASURE BASKET?
It’s a very simple concept. In fact, it’s so simple that it easily goes unnoticed when you’re bombarded with all the must have “educational” toys everywhere you look.
Here’s the recipe. Grab a basket (shallow, made of wicker or something natural. A heavy base is ideal but not essential), go around your house and fill it with everything you see that is not a toy, not made of plastic and does not have sharp edges (or does not pose danger in any other way). That’s it, you’re done!
Wait, what? That’s it? Then why doesn’t everybody do this? That’s what I’m wondering about as well!
WHAT DOES TREASURE BASKET PLAY LOOK LIKE?
When you’ve got your horde of objects, place it all in front of your sitting baby. When you see that s/he’s noticed the basket and started reaching a hand towards the first choice of object, slowly start moving backwards on tiptoes and leave your baby to it.
Your little one then will start ‘working’. This means that s/he’ll pick up each and every object and examine it thoroughly. And when I say thoroughly, I mean touching, smelling, shaking, tasting, rolling, pulling, dropping, picking up, dropping again, and investigate it as their creativity and imagination sees fit. You can literally see their senses going into a total overdrive!
WHERE DOES THE IDEA COME FROM?
The whole idea of this type of play came from Elinor Goldschmied, who, after observing babies, noticed how much they are drawn to totally non-toy objects in the house.
Treasure baskets are so important for babies because at that stage of their life they are all about gathering as much sensory information as possible. Slowly exploring all the objects fully satisfy this craving. Be aware that some babies get so lost in it that it might take them up to an hour before they are ready to stop!
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF TREASURE BASKET PLAY?
Apart from it being easy to throw together, cheap, and promotes independent play and concentration? Let’s take a closer look.
Curiosity
This is a very important aspect as curiosity is the best motivator for learning. Babies are naturally curious about generally everything so this type of play feeds into this desire.
Decision making
Babies are in total control of the play. All throughout they make hundreds of choices, such as which item to pick up, how many times, what they do with it, how long they spend with it etc.
Developing concentration and independent play
This is it! This is where you can start promoting independent play with your baby. The more they do activities that keep their attention the longer their attention span will last. They can get into the flow of total involvement, and that’s what I call a parental win! Here’s another post focusing on developing baby concentration.
Sensory learning and brain development
Read more about why sensory play is important for brain development in this post.
Experimenting
During Treasure Basket Play babies are free to be a ‘little scientist’, to plan, come up with theories, gather sensory information by testing them, categorise it then come up with other theories based on the newly acquired knowledge and test them again. It’s an endless learning circle.
Gross motor development
Sitting for an extended period of time requires strong core muscles, finding their balance every time they lean over to grab something, coordination etc.
Fine motor skills
Treasure basket play is the ultimate fine motor skill developing activity! Just observe them manipulating an object and you’ll understand what I’m talking about!
Learning about scientific, abstract concepts
Is this object heavy or light? Big or small? Short or long? Smooth or bumpy? Is it rigid or bendy? Does it smell? Does it have a particular taste? Maybe it makes a sound when I drop it? Does it roll fast or slow? Are two objects similar or completely different? From here on it’s a straight way towards putting these concepts into words.
TIPS AND TRICKS
There are a few things to consider before you throw your mouse away and start running around the house and sweep everything in the closest basket you find.
- Your baby has to be old enough to sit confidently so s/he can focus all their attention to exploring and not on trying not to fall over.
- S/he has to be well-fed, alert and ready to play.
- Only start treasure basket play when you know you have time so you won’t have to break their focus and concentration. Hello, independent play!
- Try to select objects based on their ‘heuristic’ properties, which means they all have different sizes, shapes, textures, materials.
- Do NOT put anything in the basket that is made of plastic.
- Make sure that every object is safe to explore. Read more here about whether crochet toys are safe to give to babies.
- This activity is very easy to set up outside as well, take advantage of that!
- Do not leave your baby unattended while playing.
- DO NOT INTERFERE. This is very important. It might be hard to accept but this is a moment when you are not needed at all. Take advantage of it, get a nice cup of tea or coffee, get your favourite book and put your feet up. Or just get lost in watching your baby exploring, like I used to do.
- You can use treasure basket play as often as you’d like, even every day, however in this case I would suggest changing the contents often to keep up the interest.
WHAT TO PUT IN THE BASKET?
Literally ANYTHING, as long as it’s safe for your baby to explore.
Just a few ideas: a baby comb, a nail brush, a wooden spoon, a metal teaspoon, a variety of balls, natural items such as stones, pinecones or seashells, the inside tube of a kitchen paper roll, a leather glove, measuring cups, big pom-poms, metal cooking utensils such as a ladle or a whisk….
Some experts say you can chuck about 20-100 items in a basket. I would personally recommend starting with between 5-10. See how your baby gets on and increase the amount of things as you observe the readiness of your little one.
You can also make themed baskets, such as wooden things, black and white things, metal things, yellow things, soft things etc. As your baby grows, you can start naming the themes and the objects.
Always supervise your baby during treasure basket play.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I believe that treasure basket play is one of the most underrated but also the most awesome type of play you can provide to your baby. It helps your baby’s development in so many ways that it’s impossible to list them all, they are quick to assemble and almost free! When it goes well, babies can fully immerse themselves in it, giving you some precious moments to yourself. If you have never tried it before, give it a go today and tell me how it went in the Comments section!
Click here to read more about how the Montessori Visual Mobiles, the Montessori Tactile Mobiles or the Sensory Baby Toys help your baby’s development.
Have you tried Treasure Basket Play with your baby? Share it with us in the comments section or tag me in your Instagram photos. #montessoriedited, @montessoriedited