One of the greatest activities I've ever set up for M (now 4.5) is our collection of busy bags. We take these bags everywhere. Seriously, they come to restaurants, doctor appointments, on vacations, and even during quiet time in M's room (our substitution for nap time).
I started out by picking up about a dozen zippered pencil pouches from Wal-Mart (I think they're $0.97 each). Then, I filled them with all sorts of fun, themed activities.
Busy Bag Ideas:
(almost all supplies were from Dollar Tree, Target, or just from around our own house):
(almost all supplies were from Dollar Tree, Target, or just from around our own house):
-Play Store: calculator, price stickers, pencil and notebook
-Little Artist: markers, crayons, paper
-Miss Sticky: tons and tons of stickers, small notebook
-Open and close: a bunch of bottles, pouches, and tubes to open and close (with a handful of coins included to hide in objects)
-Finger puppets (check out Ikea for a great selection and awesome prices!)
-Cut it Up: scissors and things to cut (straws, small tub of play dough, ribbon, paper strips)
-Fix-it Kit (M's favorite): eye glass repair kit and small sewing kit (both from Dollar Tree)
Written by Jill
Had to share this idea with everyone. Thanks for another great kid friendly idea for parent sanity
ReplyDeleteGreat idea. I wondered if you could take some more close up pictures of each kit or give a few more details about what items are in some of those kits. Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteThe descriptions at the bottom will give you a good idea as to what to put in there and where to get it. Let us know how it goes and which one is your child's favorite!
DeleteI love that you used the zippered pouches, brilliant! A lot of sites feature busy bags with the ziplock bags, which i hate to use with a baby in the house! Now I have to figure out a way to get organized enough to get these together.
ReplyDeleteHow old was your child when you started using them?
Thanks,
Alisha @ www.YourKidsTable.com
M was about 16-18 months when I started with some of them.
DeleteGreat use of the pencil pouches! I love busy bags :) I have all kinds of these pouches too that I've picked up on clearance over the years. Have been wondering what to do with them. Perfect!
ReplyDeleteI like the pencil pouch idea too. I'm putting this on my "To-Do" list along with quiet time boxes...maybe for this Memorial Weekend! I'll let you know how they turn out! :)
ReplyDelete~Andrea
Oh, these are great!! I will be on the look out for some of these items to put together some busy bags for my little ones.
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a great, simple idea!
ReplyDeletehttp://practicallyhomemade.blogspot.ca/
Love the store and fix-it bags! Great ideas!
ReplyDeleteI love the zipper bags but unable to find them in australia. Would u consider posting just the zipper bags to Australia if so how much would u charge? philkrissy09@hotmail.com. Thanks
ReplyDelete