Tuesday, August 7, 2012

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 78: Toothpick Spice Shaker


This simple activity has been making its way around the internet.  I've wanted to try it for a while but had to wait until I had an empty spice shaker.  All you need to do is take an empty, clean, plastic spice shaker and some toothpicks.  I advise not choosing a chili pepper canister or something like that.  Even if you clean it pretty well, you don't want to worry about your kiddo getting pepper oils into his eyes!  I chose 10 toothpicks just in case this became a counting activity for him (it didn't).  I think 10 is a good number to count to.  Plus, I wanted to know how many he had in case some ended up missing.  I wanted to know if I had to search the floors to make sure no one ended up stepping on a toothpick.  Ouch!

For "Toothpick Spice Shaker," all you need to do is show your toddler how to insert toothpicks through the holes on top of the spice lid.  I did one, and then Oliver demanded he wanted to do it.

Here are some photos of him.  He's very focused as he inserts each tooth pick.


After putting all 10 toothpicks in, he snapped the cap closed and needed help opening it.  Other than that, he was able to do the activity by himself.  It kept him occupied for about 10 minutes, and, later, he went back to it and spent another 10 minutes on it.

This activity is simple, which is a huge bonus for me, and it kept him engaged.  The downside of the activity is the fact that toothpicks are sharp.  It's amazing what kind of trouble toddlers can get into, so I worried he'd end up with a toothpick sticking out of some extremity.  That didn't happen, but, nonetheless, this isn't an activity to let a little kid do without some supervision.
I give "Toothpick Spice Shaker" a B+.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am a physical therapist. I noticed your son is "W sitting" in one of the pictures. Sitting this way can cause serious problems in his hips. I just wanted to make you aware.

Laurie Jo said...

I've done this same activity using broken up spaghetti noodles - same idea but you don't have the sharp toothpicks

Anonymous said...

My niece is a PT too and is always telling my toddler to stop sitting that way. Almost every kid I know sits this way at one time or another. Unless he does this constantly, I wouldn't let it worry you. Love your blog!

Anonymous said...

We also do this activity using broken spaghetti noodles :) And we use an empty cleaned out Parmesan container; one side of the lid has little holes to fit the noodles through, and the other side of the lid is a big hole that the noodles can be easily dumped out of.

Jamie Willow said...

this works with pipe cleaners too, and not as sharp

whirledpeas1129 said...

How did I miss all of these great comments?? Thanks for letting me know about sitting in that style. Also, the spaghetti noodles are a MUCH better idea than the toothpicks. Thanks!