This was a huge success! As I continue to search for the best indoor activities that are fun, yet inexpensive, for the grandkids, I occasionally hit upon a winner~Quiet Boxes! The best part is that everything pictured here, including the box, came from the Dollar Store.
Seriously, have you been to the Dollar Store recently? I took my time and perused the aisles looking for specific items that I knew each child would be interested in. With the ages of our two, I tried to keep the items pretty similar to keep jealousy at bay, yet still catering to their specific current “likes.”
These are the items I chose for each box:
- Coloring book and box of crayons
- Small pads of paper
- Stickers
- Puzzles
- Spinning tops
- Character cut out sets to color
- Candy
- Colorforms
- Army men
- Unicorn figurines
I explained to the kids that these boxes were “only” for quiet time. When we want to play with these boxes, we must put all other toys away. Likewise, when we are done playing, we must put everything back into the box to be ready for the next time that we want time to ourselves. The kids quickly dug in, pulled EVERYTHING out, and forgot about everything else around them while they enjoyed their own “special” box. What’s even better, is that when we were ready for dinner, they put everything back. They are anxious to keep their box together.
I would like to point out that when I purchased the Colorforms I was super excited!!! Do you remember these? I saw these in the store and immediately traveled back to my childhood. I have memories of being so excited every time my mom would purchase a new set for me to play with. I told my husband about them and he looked at me like I was a crazy woman. I guess not everyone played with these when they were young. 🤷♀️ So of course, I did what every Mimi of the 21st century does and I jumped on to Amazon to see if I could find more. My goodness, there are so many:
These are a few of our favorites above. They cost a little more than the Dollar Store sets, but they are bigger sets, so still worth the price.
You can also build off of this idea and make “Busy Bags” for the children. This would be a great idea for times you take the kids somewhere that you know there may not be other toys or children for them to play with. Once again, when a child knows they have some special bag or box that is only theirs, you will be amazed how much they look forward to it.
Whether you are a parent or a grandparent, I think you will find this to be a very worthwhile project. Let me know if you try it out!
