Indoor Toddler Activity Table

I am really excited about this indoor toddler activity table. My son, Parker, would play every. single. day. at his outdoor stand up sand table last summer. It was such a big hit (he was just under two). I definitely recommend one for any family that has a daughter or son between the ages of 16 months - 4 years old. It was one of those gifts that we were given that I was a little bit annoyed about because it was bulkier and plastic and in my pre-toddler days, I thought of it as an eye-sore. But boy was I wrong. Oh my gosh, the endless hours of entertainment that it provided was amazing. So I knew that this indoor sensory table would be a big hit before the weather warmed up again. I cannot take all of the credit, I got the idea from a friend who has a son Parker's age. You can go with dried beans, macaroni or any type of filler. Bigger pieces would honestly likely be a little less messy. I opted for rice though, because Charlotte is too young to know better about what not to put in her mouth and she is the type of little one who would definitely try to eat beans or macaroni. That had me too worried about choking. If it were just Parker, I would have gone for one of those. I do like that the rice is more similar to sand though. 

Anyway, this is really easy to make and I'm sharing the source information so you can also make one for under $30 too! 

• Container is from Walmart: $5.87
• Rice is from Walmart: $8.13
• Cat Mini Machines are also from Walmart: $5.88
• All other items are from Dollar Tree! $6

TIP 1: I totally bought two 20 lb. bags of rice. It really looked like we would need two to fill the container 1/3 or 1/2 of the way. I was shocked that only one bag did the trick and two was WAY too much. So we now we have enough rice to last us through the year if anyone want to join us for dinner.

TIP 2: If a younger one wants to get involved, sit them on top of the lid (if it's smooth) to help contain the contents of the activity table. 

P.S. A little sweeping or vacuuming will need to happen every so often with the use of this indoors. But this is also a great activity to use outside this spring too.

I'd love to hear from you if you make one! Enjoy!!

 (I shared sand tables too, just because I talked about it above at first and having one was one of the best gifts! I don't recommend using rice or beans in those. Just the container).