'I Spy' Exploration Bags

This activity was enjoyed at our annual Kids' Expo Event in Placerville this past April and we now have one of these great exploration bags in each of our offices for visitors.

The great thing about this project is it's flexibility to use what you have on-hand.

You will need:
A gallon plastic bag (freezer grade)
Wide and very sticky tape
Some media to mix the objects in
Miscellaneous objects to 'spy'

For the most part, we used decorative Duck tape because we already had several rolls- and glass, cloth electrical tape (that's another story...) Medical tape would probably work too.

Also, re-purposing an already used freezer bag that had something fairly clean in it (i.e. bread, crackers) is a great way to up-cycle.

We used rice or stale legumes as a media to hide our toys. You could used anything you had on hand and were willing to part with. Fine sand would work too.

Fill your bag with your media and toys and gently press out the air and seal.
Place tape on either side of the sealing opening. We used 2 full strips for the front and back of the opening and then just overlapped one strip on the remaining three sides.

*Note: Please use caution with this exploration object. Infants and toddlers should be supervised while exploring. The bag could break and all of the tiny objects would then be available and are definitely choking hazards. Also use care not to place any sharp objects in the bag which might puncture the bag prematurely.
If you wanted to add another level of protection, you could find a large, round plastic bottle and glue the cap on with some high power adhesive (like E6000) instead of placing in the bag.

You could also make little lotto cards for preschoolers by photographing each object separately and gluing on stock card. Slip the photo card in a plastic bag or laminate.

Easy project....and you just saved about $20