How it Plays

Spread out a layer of newspaper. Fill a big tub or pan with cereal. Get out lots of cups, measuring spoons, trucks, and other toys, and let the fun begin. Start by explaining to your child that this is a new kind of indoor sandbox, and you're going to play in it together rather than eat it.

It's particularly fun to use dump trucks and other earth-moving machines with rice cereal since it makes such a satisfying hiss as it pours out. Wooden blocks are useful for building bridges, garages, and other buildings. Do keep one or two extra boxes of cereal on hand to replenish the "sand" when necessary, since cereal tends to crush into powder over time.

What You'll Need

• Unused kitty-litter tub, dishpan, or other large and relatively shallow container
• Two large boxes of puffed rice cereal
• Newspaper
• Sand toys
• Trucks or cars
• Cooking utensils

Learning and Growing

There's a reason so many preschools have a sand table: This kind of play is ideal for developing fine-motor skills. Of course, when your child builds an entire city complete with roads, parking lots, and building-block bridges, she's developing her imagination, too.