exploring with magnets

magnets in the sand table

We have been playing with magnets in our sand table for the past couple of weeks.

As well as three magnet wands, I put in some coloured paper clips, magnetic marbles and some wire rimmed plastic discs (magnetic bingo chips?) that came in a magnet kit.  

The kidlets and I chatted about other things that were magnetic and could go in our magnet sand table -- magnetic letters, spoons, pipe cleaners, votive candle covers, bottle caps, money, clothespins, jingle bells, scissors, nuts and bolts, cookie cutters ... and we are still finding new additions.

I found a magnet discovery bottle (along with a whole bunch of other really cool discovery bottle ideas) at Pre-School Play.  I cut up a bunch of brightly coloured pipe cleaners (the same as in the sand) and put them inside a 2 L pop bottle and a 1L water bottle.  The kidlets are having a grand old time using the magnet wand to drag around the pipe cleaners inside the bottles.

Pulling magnet marbles out of a sand mountain is a cool experiment. 

Seeing how many magnets will "stick" or "hang on" is always fun.

There is always the silly magnet faces and magnet people. 

And the mesmerizing effect of falling sand.

Karen at PreKinders made a sensory table with rice and magnets. Check it out.

What other things could we put into our magnet table?