Baby Discovery Box

Create a simple baby discovery box with toys. Your baby will love exploring what’s inside the box. It’s a great sensory experience and perfect time to connect with baby. Affiliate links are included in this post.

I first shared this idea on Instagram. It’s a little game that Lily and I like to play quite often.

Playing “What’s in the Box?” #playmatters

A photo posted by Trisha (@inspire_labs) on Dec 30, 2014 at 10:31am PST

We have this cool fabric box that was made for babies to explore what’s inside. It came with a few toys that have different textures. It’s similar to this What’s Inside? Soft Feely Box I found on Amazon. This Surprise! What’s Inside Toy Box is also pretty neat.

You don’t need to buy anything special for this activity though. Look around and see what you have available. Use a box or bin. The items don’t have to be hidden for babies to play. In fact, ours is quite open at the top.

Gather some baby toys and place them inside the box. Here is a sample of things I put inside ours on this particular day.

Let baby see what’s inside the box. I add just a handful of things at a time. I try to vary the shapes and the textures. Some of the objects make a sound when you shake them.

Lily likes to take an object out and explore it by placing it in her mouth. Be sure the items you choose are baby safe and large enough for mouthing.

When babies play, they are hard at work learning and making observations. They are doing science – using their senses, exploring their world, and discovering new things.

This game is always fresh and new just by selecting different toys to explore. As your baby plays, talk to him about the toys. What do they feel like? What shape are they? Does that toy make a sound? Encourage her to shake the toy or squeeze the squeaker.

Have you ever made a discovery box for baby?

Be sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get exclusive science explorations for young scientists in each issue.