BEANS!

My kids love to dig, scoop and dump. The sandbox is one of our favorite places...when it's not covered in snow. When Dylan was in nursery they used to rotate playing with playdough and beans. So I stole the idea and adapted it to work for me. I keep some sort of a pan with beans and a bunch of little cars and trucks in it on top of my fridge and once in awhile we get it down and play with them. Because I had three kids around today, I split the beans so that each kid had a different pan to play with. BRILLIANT! They played forever. They know to be careful not to dump them all over, but if they spill, they clean up easily. It's a perfect indoor "sandbox."