Mystery Box: Preschool Activity
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After being furloughed from my job as a result of the pandemic, I made the decision to fully dedicate myself to homeschooling my son, Kaison. As I transitioned from my 10-hour workdays at a corporate job into a full-time homeschool teacher, I scoured the internet for ideas that would help me teach Kaison a variety of skills and lessons in ways that would engage and interest him.
So far, we’ve accomplished a ton, but our favorite of the projects we’ve tackled during quarantine is the “Mystery Box Challenge.” This project has the added bonus of being the easiest activity as well, so it won’t be hard for you to replicate this for your little ones!
For the “Mystery Box Challenge” project, all you need is a box and any sensory items you can find around the house! Cut a hole big enough for your child to comfortably fit their hands, then fill the box with various items and watch as your little one has a fun time trying to guess what each item is! We spend about 30 minutes each time we play this activity because Kaison really enjoys guessing.
I chose this project because it’s a sensory activity that builds on Kaison’s natural curiosity and enriches his ability to connect different sounds and textures to different materials. It encourages him to not only recall what things like his favorite food or toy look like, but also what they feel like. Another skill Kaison is able to build on through this project (that I didn’t expect, but am very grateful for) is a better sense of self-control. Kaison has been able to develop more self-control because rather than just pull the object out of the mystery box when he gets stumped, he pushes through and keeps on guessing.
We’re always trying new activities to keep Kaison entertained and engaged in the learning process. The selection process for what new activity we’ll take on is primarily trial and error, but there are a few factors I take into consideration when browsing the Internet or just brainstorming ideas:
This may seem a bit selfish, but I first pick activities that I get energized by. Kaison, like many other children, feeds off of and responds with the energy that you’re putting off. If I'm enthusiastic about a project, that positive energy rubs off on him (most of the time). After all, we are dealing with a "threenager," and his moods can be all over the place!
The activity must be interactive, STEM-related, and/or have a game-like element to it. While I personally love to craft, Kaison appreciates things he can play with during and after the project is complete. This way, it’s just like adding another toy to his collection. Crafts that are just hung on the wall aren’t as fun for him.
The activity must be flexible. This way, we can modify the activity to Kaison’s needs and ensure that it’s easy enough to be fun but challenging enough to push him and teach him perseverance. Kaison has a very tight sweet spot where, if it's too easy, he just looks at me like, "Really mom? This is silly." On the other hand, if it's too hard, he gets frustrated and loses interest. Either end of the spectrum results in him walking away (cue the "mind blown" emoji for me).
Preferably, the activity we choose can be done with items we already have around the house. Since this all started, I feel like our home has become a recycling/upcycling center!
Timing is everything! I started this whole quarantine homeschool/preschool deal trying to enforce a schedule and routine for us, but that was met with a lot resistance because it wasn't "real school." He didn't have his teachers, his classmates, or all the audio and visual cues that came with his previous routine. I've learned to observe what he naturally gravitates to. We have a variety of things at arm’s reach that he can do independently, but the moment he seeks some variety, I jump on it to introduce something new! Whether it's playing pretend in his kitchen or mixing colors with paint, I have a couple ideas ready to start once he's in the mood to do something a bit more structured.
There are countless ideas out there to try with your family and kids. Don’t be discouraged if your trial-and-error seems to be a lot more “error.” There are always a million more ideas to try!
Shared by Danae Lee, mother of 1 rascal, age 4.
