I have never known a little boy who didn’t love construction equipment toys. When one of our grandsons was little, I bought some miniature diecast construction equipment toys. Then I bought an open plastic kitty litter pan about the size of a dishpan. A dishpan being somewhat deep, I thought that the lower sides of a kitty litter pan would be more conducive to play.

It seemed that real dirt would be much too—well—dirty. Sand might be great, but it’s so fine that it would be hard to clean up whenever some found its way out of the container. And sand is also very heavy. Then a thought hit me. Uncooked Cream of Wheat is a little like sand, but it’s lighter and easier to clean up.

So I emptied two boxes of Cream of Wheat into the kitty litter pan. I threw in a few rocks to serve as “boulders,” a couple of twigs to serve as “logs,” and a craft stick to smooth out the Cream of Wheat and start out fresh. A baby formula scoop was added for making mounds and filling the dump truck quickly. It turned out that those tiny construction toys in the Cream of Wheat provided hours of fun.

The Beginning of a Tradition

Since I discovered how entertaining my construction toys in Cream of Wheat could be, it became a sort of tradition to get a container for Cream of Wheat and a set of miniature metal construction equipment toys for other grandsons and for nephews. I sometimes gave a smaller version in a plastic shoebox container with a lid. The smaller version could be useful to pack on a camping trip in case of a rainy day or when some quiet play was needed.

Others Came Up with Similar Ideas

Since the time I first came up with this idea, multiple manufacturers have come up with different types of “construction sensory bins.” Maybe I’m prejudiced, but I still like my version. Some of the bins feature kinetic sand, wheat straw, rice, or other substances. Kinetic sand might be fun, but it’s quite a bit heavier than Cream of Wheat. It’s 98% real sand and 2% binding agent. Less weight makes it more convenient to move the container, especially for little ones. Also, if kinetic sand spills on carpet, you must wait until the remainder that you couldn’t pick up dries before you can vacuum it up. Colored kinetic sand can leave faint stains.

It seems that most of the construction toy bins that are offered contain all-plastic construction toys. In my estimation the weight of the diecast alloy toys makes them seem more real. They are not completely indestructible, since many of the moving parts are made of plastic.

The Container for Your DIY Construction Toy Play Set

The kitty litter box worked fine for me because I had just the right place to store it and I was the one who took it out and put it away. However, in most cases it would probably be much more practical to have a container with a cover on it. Then it can be easily stacked with other toys. There is a large, flat Brightroom storage bin that measures 14-1/2 L x 11 W x 3-1/8 H and has a lid with clamps. There is also a Sterilite “Clip Box” that measures 14 L x 11 W x 3.25 H and has a clamping lid. If you wanted to make a smaller version, you could consider a smaller Brightroom storage bin that measures 11-1/8 L x 6-5/8 W x 2-3/4 H and has a lid with clamps.

There are quite a few empty “sensory bins” with lids that you can order, but they are usually packs of three or four. If you’re wanting to make several sets, you could check into those. Some have a carrying handle on the side, which might be quite handy—until a child neglects to clamp the bin lid tightly before picking up the bin by the side handle. Ooh, that could be a mess!

The “Dirt” for Your DIY Construction Toy Play Set

I didn’t even know that Cream of Wheat is actually just a popular brand name for a wheat product called “farina”—kind of like Kleenex is a popular brand of “tissues.” If you enter “farina for sale” in your search engine, you will see other brands. The most common quantity in a box of Cream of Wheat and other brands of farina is 28 ounces. For the larger container you will probably need two 28-ounce boxes. For the smaller container one 28-ounce box will probably be sufficient.  If you have to pay shipping costs for sending someone a construction play set as a gift, you could just include some cash designated to cover the cost of the farina.

The Toys for Your Construction Toy Play Set

There are quite a few companies that have manufactured those miniature diecast toy construction equipment sets over the years. By entering “1/64 scale alloy construction equipment” in the Amazon search engine, you should find some examples of sets currently being sold.

Potential Fun on the Horizon

This is an idea for an opportunity for fun for some little boy in your family or your circle of friends—or maybe even some little boy whose family is suffering financially. Little boys need to be at least 3 years old to play safely with these toys that have small parts and not be tempted to taste the “dirt.” They will probably enjoy this play scenario until about age 7.  It provides good hands-on play away from electronic tablets and tech toys.