Disclaimer: I by no means have enough money to be wasting food right now. The items I used in this box were items that I knew would not be eaten so I figured it would be better to play with them rather than just throw them out.
I began by looking through my pantry to see what might make for some simple science fun. I ended up with a bin of tri-colored couscous, half a bag of white rice, a cinnamon sugar mix, and animal cracker crumbs. I emptied all of these things into a plastic bin. Then I added about 6 ice cubes for extra fun! Finally I dropped several safe kitchen utensils in the bin: measuring cups and spoons, a pasta spoon, and a basting brush.
I placed the bucket outside in the backyard and let the kids enjoy!
Oh, that ice cube is cold, Mommy!!
It was a very successful activity. All three kids really got into it! We used lots of describing words including sticky, sandy, frozen, etc. I asked them questions such as "How many ice cubes do you think will fit in there?" and "What's happening to the ice cubes?" They had such a good time; they had no idea how much they were learning!Plus it was nice to not have to worry about Dawson putting things in his mouth since everything in the bin was safe in that respect.