Nature Exploration Trays: Toddler-Safe Science

It's not always easy to keep toddlers busy and happily engaged in meaningful play—it can be challenging to put together safe, age-appropriate materials for discovery play for really young children. Toddlers still put things in their mouths. It's part of their tool set for discovery. 

Lately, I've focused on stretching our sensory play activities to include the younger crowd. I've put together a few discovery trays for the toddlers and they've been played with, explored and enjoyed every day for the last two weeks.

I used trays for these activities for two reasons: to contain the mess to one place and because they're shallower than a bin, which makes it easier for kids to reach the materials. Trays also create an open invitation to play, with an unobstructed view of play possibilities.

Deep Sea Diver Tray

Our first tray is a deep-sea diver tray, complete with edible "sand." I used a handful of Cream of Wheat cereal as the sand. It has the same gritty texture as real sand, but is completely safe if your toddler decides to taste it! The tray includes sea shells, a toy boat, diver figurines, plastic aquarium plants and more.

The materials are very simple, but provide many textures, colours and opportunities to experiment, explore and hone developing imaginations and fine motor skills.

Bird Exploration Tray

Our second tray is a bird exploration tray. I included feathery birds, plastic eggs, a tin bird house and a nest, all purchased at a craft supply store. The sunflower seeds are from my pantry and we collected the branches outside.

This tray provides opportunities for imaginative play with the mama and baby birds, filling and dumping the birdseed in and out of the bird house and, with older toddlers, one to one correspondence and tallying.

The beauty of these trays is that you don't necessarily need to buy anything new—you can use toys and objects that you already have at home.

Helpful Hints

• When putting together play activities for toddlers, be sure to choose materials that are "taste safe," colourful and have more than one purpose. This helps stretch the play possibilities.
• Remember that toddlers like to scoop, fill and dump, so try to include materials that will allow for this kind of play.