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Bring the Beach to Your Backyard with This Cheerio Sand Hack

There’s nothing we love more than a good mom hack. Especially a mom hack that’ll keep babies busy for at least 15 minutes (and that’s saying something!). So when we spotted this sensory play hack on TikTok, we had to share. Mom Elle, whose handle is @marmapickle, was looking for a way to create a safe material for her seven-month-old daughter Amara, and as you can see in the video below, she certainly succeeded.

@ellethevirgo

🌞🐠🌴 #fyp #sensoryplay #upcycling

♬ Laxed – Jawsh 685

When you’ve got a little one, finding activities for babies that are both safe and fun can be a real challenge. Not to mention that it takes some creative thinking to come up with a way to have a beach day when you live hundreds of miles from a real ocean. After looking around at what she had at home, Elle decided to use her Nutribullet to pulverize Cheerios into a material her daughter could enjoy outside on a sunny day. Once she had enough, she added regular sand toys to a sensory tray and took it all outside. The best part? It still has a sand-like consistency, but since it’s made of cereal dust, it’s totally edible.

 

Many commentators on the video brought up the issue of what might happen if the baby goes to an actual beach and tries to put real sand in her mouth, but plenty of people, like us, consider it to be pure parenting genius.

One smart mama had a great comeback. “This is wonderful! Some babies and kids try to eat any and everything anyway. Worry about that bridge when you get to it.”

Another mom says, ” Anyone who has a small child knows they’re gonna eat sand/dirt regardless. I love this idea.”

All photos courtesy of Elle Taylor

 

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