Mystery Sensory Bags for Baby: Daddy's Workshop

It's Mystery Sensory Bag time again! Kingston loves helping his Daddy around the house. He can't help it, its in his blood. His Grumpy owns a construction company. Dada use to be his foreman. I basically grew up inside the Home Depot! He doesn't really stand a chance when it comes to this kind of stuff. He already loves it! As soon as Todd pulls out the drill or goes to clean/fix something, Kingston is there trying to lend a hand. Just today, Todd was re-installing some locks on the kitchen cabinets, and K was adamant that he hold the door. This isn't the first time he has done this either!

It was definitely time that I put together the next sensory bag. With the help of Daddy, this sensory bag is based on: Daddy's Workshop! As much as I wanted him to explore real tools, the majority of them were either too heavy, too sharp, or too dirty. So, I chose the safe, yet interesting items and also mixed in a few of his toy tools. Here is what I ended up choosing: a plush hammer, screwdriver, tsquare, and ruler (this is part of an adorable Ikea set that I got along with a tool belt!), a paint stirrer, flash light, an empty spice jar filled screws (make sure that the lid is glued shut as these pose a severe choking hazard!), a paint roller, a pair of safety glasses, a tape measure, a drillbit, two paintbrushes - one regular and one sponge, a small level, K's toy Pound 'n Giggle Hammer, and paint chips in every color of the rainbow that I picked up at Walmart recently!

*This post contain the most pictures I have ever included in a post. Please keep in mind that you have been warned!

Before I gave the bag to Kingston, I put him in a festive shirt for the occasion. I also strapped on his little tool belt. He had just finished helping Daddy with the cabinet, so he was in full construction mode!

Then, I set the bag on the ground and let him approach it on his own. 

He was so adorable trying to get in the bag. He is getting so use to being offered a brown paper bag, that he literally just stuck his entire head in the bag to see what was inside!

The first item he found in the bag was the little spice jar filled with screws!

I'm a bit of a container and recyclable hoarder of sorts. I save every empty spice jar, puffs container, toilet

 paper rolls etc. You never know when they will come in handy! I previously had bells in this little jar waiting to be used. I transferred those to another storage container and had Dada fill this with screws. Kingston was really excited when he pulled it out. I told him the name of what he was holding and said, "Shake, shake, shake!" You don't have to explain that to K. He knew exactly what to do!

Next, he pulled out the paint stirrer. We have about a million of these! He was very interested in it. He closely examined it, and then went to town drumming the floor with it. He tasted it briefly, and then used it to poke into the bag to see what else he could find!

"What else is in here Mama?"

The next item he found was the industrial flashlight. He explored a flashlight in our first Mystery Sensory Bag and loved it. This one was even bigger and stood up on its own. Kingston was fascinated. Dada showed him how to turn it on and moved the light around the room. K couldn't wait to get his hands on it. He touched the light, poked at it, flashed it around the room. Light seems to always be a really big hit with him. I want to invest in some kind of fun fiber optics and glow stuff for him to explore in the future!

The next item he pulled out was kind of familiar to him: safety glasses. He loves glasses of all kinds! He is constantly pulling off my sunglasses and Glam*Ma's reading glasses. He thinks they are wonderful and very entertaining. These glasses had yellow lens, so he was quite intrigued. He tried putting them on, then went on to examine them for a long time. He smacked them on the floor a few times, took a bite, the usual! 

The paint roller was the next object he pulled out. I was so excited about this. I thought for sure he would be very interested in it because of its texture. However, he took a few little pats of it and discarded it. I tried to turn his interest back to it by using it as a telescope, explaining that it was furry like a puppy "woof, woof", and singing into it, but he was already onto the next object! Oh well.

At least the next two items he was fascinated with: the level and the tape measure. I monitored him closely when he played with these to ensure the level stayed intact and that the tape measure didn't snap at him. He was very gentle when he played with these. I showed him the bubbles inside of the level glass, and I showed him the measurement marks on the tape measure. He ran his fingers over the level and spun the measuring tape around and around.

At this point, Dada had moved on to trying to clean out the fire place, so Kingston's attention to the mystery sensory bag began to dwindle in place of watching Daddy. In an attempt to amp him up again, I pulled out the paint chips. He couldn't resist all of the colors and went to work pushing them all around the floor. He examined each color. I went over the name of each color and put them in rainbow order. He had fun using his little muscles to scrunch each one up!

I knew Kingston couldn't resist the next two items: paint brushes. He loves brushes of all kinds! He immediately grabbed these out of my hand and began feeling the bristles with his fingers. Then, of course, they went straight into the mouth!

The last item he played with was the drillbit. It was still in the package, but he could feel the ridges on the exterior of the drillbit through the packaging. He briefly explored the texture, and then was off crawling to something new. 

He definitely wasn't into the toys that I included in the bag. He briefly touched each one, but was way more interested in exploring the household objects. After he was done with the bag, he booked it for the fireplace where Dada had been working. He crawled right up onto the hearth (this is brand new as of today .. Todd and I are both freaking out a bit about this new development!) and copied what Dada had been doing. He was absolutely adorable with his diaper and tool belt, trying to fix the fireplace! 

I would say this bag was a hit! It helped to enhance something that Kingston is already very interested in right now, and introduced him to new objects. It held his attention for quite awhile, though it couldn't compete with the excitement of watching Daddy at work! 

If you liked this mystery bag, please come check out the others in this series: 

Mystery Sensory Bags for Baby: The Junk Drawer

Mystery Sensory Bags for Baby: The Kitchen

Mystery Sensory Bags for Baby: Daddy's Workshop