Treasure Baskets
Why are treasure baskets important?
Treasure baskets provide babies with a range of objects they would not normally play with at home, but are safe to handle to explore in different ways.
Young children respond more intensely to materials by experiencing feel, taste, smell, touch. Babies begin to find out what they like and how things work.
A child’s brain undergoes an amazing period of development from birth to three - producing 700 new neural connections every second. Therefore, babies need a stimulating environment and treasure baskets offer lots of opportunities.
Getting Started
When giving a baby a treasure basket, we make sure the basket is placed in a quite area, free from other toys and distractions. Parents or staff should stay close to offer support if needed.
Encourage babies to explore by themselves and choose objects they like, encourages children to pick objects up by themselves.
Treasure baskets are led by the child and very little adult guidance is needed. This type of play is known to help children’s confidence and their concentration.
Ideas of what to put in a treasure basket
- Textured material
- Small potato masher
- CD’s
- Large chains
- Bangles
- Curtain rings
- Cotton real
- Soft brush
- Fir cones
- Egg cup
- Bracelets
- Bowls
- Small box
- Purse
- Spoons
- Small tin
- Metal beaker
Always make sure items are safe and clean
Keep the contents of the baskets varied and introduce new objects spontaneously to keep rotated to keep babies interested.