Bree’s Discovery Basket

For Bree’s very first Easter, someone gave the family a nice hamper. A month or two later, the basket that was part of the hamper sat unused in the laundry. I thought I could use it to make a discovery basket for Bree who had just begun to sit up properly. My ex-charges: Mathilde and her siblings, used one when they were babies. They enjoyed exploring the things that their mum added into the basket. Before I set out to make a similar one, I went to ask Bree’s parents first but they thought that I wanted the basket for my own use and gave it to me right away.

The basket was given a good clean and dried thoroughly under the sun. The first thing I added into the basket the next day was a pair of Aboriginal clapping sticks that were given to Bree for her first Christmas. Yes, someone gave her those when she was just a month old! I also added this ball made out of fabric, a small empty tea box, a Peter Rabbit egg cup, a tea towel and her dad’s old scarf. To encourage lots of tummy time, little Bree had been ‘exercising’ on a single size doona, on the floor in the family living area. On one end of the doona was a small collection of toys. I deliberately placed the basket of goodies on the opposite end and presented it in front of her whenever she sat down for a little play. I preferred to present it to her after her nap and feed because that is usually when she was at the ready to do some ‘discovery’ on her own. She was able to spend as long as 15-20 minutes picking out items of interest to feel them in her hands and taste them in her mouth. Not all items were return to the basket at first. By the time she was around 11-12 months old, she obviously noticed that I put the items back into the basket at the end of each play session; she began to copy by placing the items back into the basket. Again, it was not perfect at first. Unaware that her toys were not meant to go into this basket, she sometimes placed them in it as well.

Bree’s parents caught up with what I was up to. They too began to add things to the basket. An old handbag, a Chinese hand drum, a pair of maracas and a blue stress ball were some of the things that turned up in the basket. I had to trim the contents from time to time. Some items (e.g. an old mobile phone, a large shell, and a pair of compact binoculars) were just not suitable. One item that Bree liked most was an old leather coin pouch with a zipper opening. The pouch doubles as a key ring and Bree’s parents found three old keys for it. Knowing that I can be quite a clean freak, I remembered them reassuring me that Bree’s dad had washed the keys. LOL.

Today, Bree no longer has a discovery basket. Read the next post to find out what happened to it.