With the weather finally warming up, my kiddos have been wanting to play outside as much as they can. I love this because it gets them away from electronics and out in the fresh air.
We also have collected a number of outside toys over the years, including a big wooden swing set, a tetherball, a mini trampoline and tons of sporting equipment.
With all of that being said, my kids’ favorite place to play in is our sandbox. I would normally love them playing with anything outside, but I just hate sand boxes. They create such a mess!
The kids can play in it for five minutes or an hour and they are covered in sand. They get out to go inside and they have sand in the pants and in their shoes and I just hate the mess it creates.
So, this year I knew I wanted to do something different with our sand box. Last year, we went to a pumpkin patch and one of the fun activities there for the kids was a corn box. It was a HUGE hit with my
5-year-old. I think she liked it so much because it was like an oversized sensory bin for her.
Then this year when I went to open the sandbox and noticed it was dirty with leaves and spider webs that we would never get out of it, I decided to throw out all the sand and fill it with corn kernels.
Besides less of a mess than with sand, the other great thing about filling it with corn, is the price! We got 100 pounds of corn kernels from Tractor Supply for under $20.
It’s been three days since we filled the sandbox with the new corn and I am having to drag my kids away from it each night. I would say it is a big hit with them and it’s a big hit with me because I’m not sweeping up sand in my house.
So, if you’ve always been against a sandbox for your kids, give this a try!
ANN BURNS is a Morgantown native, raising two young children with her husband, Drake. She writes weekly columns for The Dominion Post. Contact her at Columns@DominionPost.com.
