Sand Box!

We subscribe to an educational program from Japan for Mickey. Each month, they send him an age- and developmentally-appropriate DVD, book, and a craft or toy. 

For the month of May, he received sand box toys. He had been so looking forward to getting them! The DVD preview had really gotten him psyched up for their arrival in the mail. But I hid them for a couple weeks because, frankly, we didn't have any access to a sand box. 

But I came up with a plan! We are not allowed to keep things besides patio furniture on our shared apartment patio, but I could drag the sand box out whenever he played with it and then bring it back in when he was done. Daiju got it a set of wheels so I wouldn't break my back and who knows what else trying to drag it in and out of our apartment (I hadn't thought THAT deeply about it... It turns out 50lbs of sand is pretty heavy...). And I found a recipe for home-made kinetic sand to put in the box (http://gimmiefreebies.com/make-your-own-kinetic-sand/). 

Before we got the wheels, I let him play with it in the dining area a couple times. But our little boy is a very clean boy... He was very concerned when he accidentally spilled some out and stepped on it with his bare feet. I told him we'd clean it up when he was done playing and not to worry about it, but he was not having it! Maybe he's still scarred from our trip to the beach last year... He hated the feeling of the sand on him there, too. He hid in the tent on the mat and was constantly asking us to clean him up. Sigh. 

He liked his sand box a lot better when it was outside and he had shoes on. He loves to play with dirt and bugs outside, but inside he wipes his hands clean throughout each meal with a napkin and happily washes them with soap and water when they're dirty. 

Hopefully he'll get more and more creative with his "dirt," as he calls it, each time he plays with it. We might not have our own property yet, but by golly, our boy has a sand box!