Shiny treasure bag

Lots of children love sparkly or shiny items and will spend some time talking about the contents of the shiny treasure bag.  Some shiny items will feel cold,  some will enable children to see their reflections, while others may make a noise such a scrunchy or jingling noise. 

It doesn't have to be a bag it can be a basket or a shoe box.  I use gift bags as they are cheap to purchase and I can store them easily.

You can't predict what children will choose to play with which is what makes using this activity more interesting.  The contents can be changed often too when the children may loose interest after a while of exploring the items.

Here is one I have made recently:

 

 

I have included:

• Silver shiny material which stretches too
• 3 different textured silver pan scourers, one of which is in the shape of a heart
• A small wood effect potpourri  ball painted silver
• A dessert spoon
• A key with a home made sparkly keying and silver ribbon
• Various silver / shiny packaging materials

Other ideas include: (Depending on the age / stage of the child)

• Costume jewellery
• A mirror
• Tinsel
• Kaleidoscope
• Shiny boxes with lids
• Small tin lids
• Visi bottle with silver glitter (see a previous post)

When my oldest child who is now 18 was little, there was a really good programme on children's television called the 'shiny show'.  It was good because it was developed for children and parents / carers to watch together as questions were asked along the way (about what you had been watching).  If you got the question right the characters would say....'give yourself a shiny'. 

I made something similar at this time for my child which housed many exciting shiny items as a reward instead of sweets etc.  The programme also enabled time to be spent together interacting and to develop language and listening skills.

Does any one else remember this programme?