If you’re hesitant to bring your baby to the beach during his or her first summer, then bring the beach to your baby! This little activity is one step up from the sand sensory play I did when Veronika when she was only 6 months old.

This time, I found an old craft suitcase and completely filled the bottom with sand. Any old suitcase with hard sides would work fine for this purpose! I briefly considered that bigger might have been better, but the small one had an added bonus: I could do the entire activity in the tub, making for fantastically easy clean-up.

I stripped Veronika down to a diaper and sat her in the sand. Beach day!

The most fun was burying her hands and feet and then helping her uncover them. She loved just kicking her legs in the sand, although looked confused by the grittiness, too.

I sprinkled some over her upturned palms, but found that in general it was best to keep the sensory play to her feet, so she didn’t eat any sand.

After a time, she seemed frustrated by the small box so I moved her to the side.

I loved watching her reach in and draw patterns in the sand.

To clean up, simply close the suitcase and save it for next time! Any extra sand that had spilled was simply rinsed down the tub drain.