Popsicles Matching Game/Busy Bag

 

This is a fun and simple handmade game that is sure to keep your children busy! All you need are some popsicle sticks and scrapbook paper or cardstock, you will need 1 solid color for the back and different patterns for the front side. Cut the popsicle/ice cream shapes out of the paper, out of each patterned paper, cut 2. Using the solid paper, cut out 1 popsicle shape to go with each patterned piece. Sandwich the top of a popsicle stick in between a solid and a patterned popsicle shape and glue them together. Repeat with the remaining popsicle shapes. Let them dry and you have got yourself a colorful matching/memory game! The more popsicles you make, the more difficult it is to find all of the matches. This makes a great busy bag, just stick them in a Ziploc bag and keep them in your purse until you need them to entertain your children!

Easy Peasy Counting Busy Bag

 

This busy bag never gets old! Seeing that I get my little silicon ice cube trays in the dollar store, I can change them up often to keep it "new."

 

To make your own, head to the dollar store and pick up a silicon ice cube tray, a permanent marker, and some pony beads.

 

 

Use the marker to number the sections and your child is read to play! Have them add the appropriate number of beads to each section. As they get older, they can sort the beads by color and then count them out. Simple but fun!

 

Popsicle Stick Puzzles

Popsicle Stick Puzzles are one of my son's favorite types of busy bags. They are so simple to make, so he has quite a few of them. All you need is some popsicle sticks and a picture-- you can print it out, use one that you have found, use pictures from books from the dollar store, or draw one. I cut these pictures out of a poster that we had from the Disney Rush video game. Simply cut out the picture however you like; Buzz I did just the character and I used the background with Remy. Then, glue or modge podge the picture to the popsicle sticks and let it dry. Using an exacta blade, cut the picture and separate the popsicle sticks.

Now, let your child have some fun!!

Counting Rings

 

Here is a very simple busy bag for preschool aged children learning to count-- Counting Rings! These are a great way to help your child count from 1-10, help them visualize which numbers are greater and practice number sequencing.

To make a set for your child, you will need pony beads and large binder clips (I recommend 2-3 inch binder clips). Open one ring, add one pony bead, and close it up. Open up the second ring, add two pony beads, and close it up. Repeat with the remaining rings, adding an extra bead each time, until  you are finished.

Shape Button Snake-- Great for Hand/Eye Cordination!

 

This a fun and very simple busy bag activity that I put together for my little one. A busy bag, is pretty much exactly like it sounds,  an activity in a bag that will keep a child busy when need be. Some busy bags are educational, others are just fun. Think fun busy work in a bag! My kids have well over 100 busy bags, I keep most of them away, until we need them. I have a huge tote bag full of busy bags in my car for when we go out to eat or have a doctor's appointment. They really come in handy! I even have some that I keep for traveling and long car rides.  This shape button snake is great to help with hand/eye coordination, learning shapes, color recognition, patterning, and learning the basics of buttoning. This busy bag does not cost much to make, it can be made with scraps that you have on hand or you can pick up the items from a craft or dollar store.

Making this busy bag does require a tiny bit of simple sewing, you have to sew a button on to a piece of ribbon and sew the other end of the ribbon to a piece of felt. The rest is simple, just cut shapes out of felt and cut a small opening in the middle of each shape for the button to go through.

 

 

Give your child the ribbon snake and have them make the snake eat through each shape.

 

 

This activity could easily go along with The Very Hungry Caterpillar too!

 

While your child plays with this, you can teach them the different colors and the different shapes.

Older children could practice making a pattern with the shapes or the colors as they put them on. 

This is a fun and easy way to learn, don't you think?

Butterfly Symmetry Busy Bag

 

I made this easy to make Butterfly Symmetry Busy Bag for my kids to go along with our Butterfly Sensory Tub. The link to the free printable pattern can be found at All Our Days. It is a great activity for children of all ages!

Pick Up the Worms-- A Fun and Easy To Make Busy Bag!

 

This is a really simple busy bag to make and the kids love it! All you need is a clothespin, a small piece of green felt, and some pipe cleaners.  The green felt is your grass, the pipe cleaners are your worms, and the clothespin is your bird.  The kids use the bird to collect all of the worms. You can even use this to practice color recognition and simple counting by asking your child to pick up 2 blue worms and 1 red worm.

 

 

Simple Color Matching Busy Bag for Toddlers and Preschoolers

 

I love busy bags and so does my son! A Busy Bag is simply an activity in a bag that was made to keep your child busy. Most are small enough that they can fit in your purse or in a diaper bag, so that you can carry them with you. They come in handy when you are out to eat or waiting in the doctor's office. This is a really simple and easy to make busy bag to make for your toddler or preschool aged child. With this simple busy bag, your child can practice color sorting, counting, and patterns. All you need is some popsicle sticks, magnetic strips, and colored metal paper clips.  Simply cut the magnetic strip to fit on the popsicle sticks and glue it on using a glue gun. Throw them in a bag with different color paper clips and you got yourself a busy bag! Have your child match all of the same color paper clips on the sticks. Your child can practice counting by counting the number of paper clips on each stick. You can also challenge your child to use the paper clips to make simple patterns.

 

Where The Wild Things Are Felt Board

 

I made this little monster to add to our Where the Wild Things Literacy Basket that I am working on for next month. He was very simple to make. I found a coloring page on Google and I used that as my pattern. You could glue the pieces on to use it as a decoration or prop, or leave the pieces separate and let your kids "put him together." This will be a great addition to our literacy basket and in the future it will be used on our felt board and as a busy bag.

Vegetable Garden Busy Bag

 

 

I made this busy bag to go along with our Vegetable Garden Sensory Tub that we are working on for next month. I printed the free printable, which you can find here, along with other great free garden themed printables from Home School Creations.  After it was printed, I laminated and cut the pieces out. I added magnets on the back so that it can be used on a magnetic board as well. We are using it for vegetable recognition. Can you add the squash to the basket? How about the cauliflower? My son loves his vegetables, but he doesn't know the proper name for all of them. With this, he is learning and having fun too!

Dinosaur Train Dinosaurs A to Z Busy Bag

 

I had to put together a Dinosaur themed busy bag this week. While searching for ideas, I came across a link to the PBS Website. Dinosaur Train, which is one of my son's favorite shows, is on PBS, so I thought it might be a good place to find some inspiration. I found the lyrics to the Dinosaurs A to Z song along with matching pictures. Jackpot! There was my busy bag! I printed out the 3 pages on cardstock, laminated the song lyrics, and cut and laminated the dinosaur cards. This busy bag will  help the kids practice their ABC's by putting the alphabet cards in order and help them recognize 26 different species of dinosaurs while they have fun singing the song! If you haven't seen the show or the episode that showcased that song, they have the video on the PBS website for you to check out.

Visit PBS for the free printables and make a Dinosaur Train Busy Bag for the dinosaur lovers in your life!

 

 

Pocket-Size Fishing Game in an Altoid Tin

 

Recently, I participated in an Upcycled Kids Altoid Tin Swap. I decided to make these cute little fishing games. The great part about putting it in an Altoid tin is that they are travel size and fit

easily in your pocket or purse! This is a great game to keep in your purse for when you are at the doctors or waiting in line at the grocery store. It was so easy to make too!

 

 

I used fish foamies that I had, but you could easily cut your own fish out foam paper or felt. I glued a small washer in between 2 foam fish with my hot glue gun. I tied and glued a string to a small unsharpened pencil (you could use dowel rods for your pole too) and a strong magnet on the other end. I glued a piece of blue paper on the cover with Modge Podge, to cover the word Altoid, but that is not a necessary step. 

 

My game is already to go! Go Fish! Or dolphin!

 

Capital and Lowercase Letter Matching-- Fun & Educational Ways to Upcycle Plastic Easter Eggs

 

Another great way to use up those plastic Easter Eggs I picked up is to make a set of Capital and Lowercase Letter matching eggs. They are so quick and easy to make! On each egg, using a permanent marker, write the capital letter on the top half of the egg and the matching lowercase letter on the bottom half. To play with them, separate the eggs and mix them up. Have your child match the eggs and put them back together.

Number Snakes--Fun & Educational Ways to Upcylce Plastic Easter Eggs

Last week, I picked up a bunch of plastic Easter Eggs that were on sale for 25 cents. When I got home, I found some pipe cleaners, googley eyes, and a black Sharpie and got busy.

 

The eggs with the two holes on the top were perfect to make some counting caterpillars or snakes. I am participating in a Busy Bag Exchange with 12 other people, I figured the counting snakes would be perfect for this exchange. The snake is fun to play with and it allows the kids to practice number recognition and sequencing.

 

 

I used a permanent marker to number the bottom half of 10 eggs with the numbers 1-10.

 

 

I took a red pipe cleaner and tied a knot in it towards one end.

 

 

I glued a pair of googley eyes on the egg with the number 1 on it and laced the numbers in order onto the pipe cleaner. The knot in the pipe cleaner keeps the eggs from sliding off.

 

I trimmed the tongue down a bit...

 

 

I wrapped the end of the pipe cleaner around a paper clip to help keep the egg pieces together.

 

Pretty simple, huh?

 

When the kids want to play with it, all they have to do is take the paper clip off and slide the eggs off and put them back on in order.

 

 

I didn't want to waste all of the tops of the eggs, so, I used them to make a snake for play. I made it the same way, without the numbers and instead of using a paper clip to keep the eggs together, I glued the end on.

 

 

I decided to make my son a snake that goes up to 20. I also made him a set with the alphabet.

 

Melissa and Doug felt food Sandwich Set, Taco & Burrito Set, and Pizza Set Printable Menus

 

If you have the super cute Melissa and Doug felt food Sandwich Set, Taco & Burrito Set, and Pizza Set, here is an activity for you! Head on over to the Melissa and Doug Blog, using the link below to download and print matching menus! You can laminate them and give your child a dry erase marker to take your order again and again! My son is having a blast with these!

Download yours here.

 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Story Retelling Ziploc Activity

I am working on, creating a Book Tote for The Very Hungry Caterpillar , filled with activities and props that go along with the story. I am participating in a swap with 11 other woman to create this together. Last night, I finished up my final contribution, a Very Hungry Caterpillar Story Retelling Ziploc Bag Activity. This was so simple to make and my son had a ball with it this morning! All I did was download and print the free file from the Teaching Heart Blog, which can be found here.

 

 

 

I laminated the pieces to make them more durable, if you don't have access to a laminator, I'd recommend printing the file on cardstock. I cut out all of the pieces, including the holes for the mouth and the stomach.

I taped the caterpillar onto a sandwich sized Ziploc bag and cut an opening in onside of the bag for the mouth. Nice and simple and ready to play with! You can use this in conjunction with the book or on it's own to see if your child can retell the story. In order, slip each piece of food into the caterpillar's mouth and you will see it in his belly. Too cute!