Well, I don’t know if “archeological” would be correct since we were digging for puff balls!! But J found them very intriguing 
I filled a plastic tray with rice and hid pom pom balls inside. I also set out a few scoopers and an empty tray next to it. At the last minute I added a cookie drying rack on top of the empty tray. It’s holes were big enough to let the rice fall through but small enough to keep the pom pom balls from falling. I showed J how to scoop up the rice and then empty it on top of the drying rack to find the pom pom balls. He then separated the pom pom balls by color into small bowls.
He loved this activity.
Lesson Learned: I set out a beach towel underneath, but I should’ve used the plastic table protector instead. It is heavier and doesn’t move around as much. I could’ve used the empty baby pool too.
