Busy Bag Exchange & Ideas

I keep seeing ideas for Busy Bags all over on Pinterest and other blogs that I come across. 

My cute friend Kristin set up a Busy Bag Exchange, you probably remember me mentioning it before, and had QUITE the turn out.  Anyone that signed up had to do so by a certain date and sign up for a specific activity so everyone would know how many bags to make of their activity.  She had 27 people sign up for the Toddler age group and 20 people signed up for the Preschool age group.  Me?  I signed up for both.  That means that I came home with a whopping 47 activities! 

47! 

I may have gone slightly insane in the process of making 47 busy bags for the exchange but I am telling you, it was SO worth it!  If you ever get a chance to do a busy bag exchange, I highly recommend it. 

My kids (including the older ones… though K and A may not want to admit it ;)) have been having so much fun with them.  We haven’t had a chance to really go through all of them yet but I wanted to show you a couple of fast favorites.

For those that may not know what a Busy Bag is, it’s basically homemade activity, usually for little ones, that fits into a gallon size zip top bag.  Whoever came up with the idea is a GENIUS!  I have no idea who to credit…

THANK YOU to the Busy Bag Goddesses!  {I figure it MUST be a woman… or women, no?}

Some busy bags are great for fine motor skills, some for learning, and some just for pure entertainment. 

And now… some of our favorites, so far:

Pipe Cleaner Fun

Just take an old food container, clean it out, poke holes in the lid (just big enough for a pipe cleaner) and VOILA!  B loves this one.  It kept him quietly busy for 20 minutes when I introduced him to it.  I think another of my cute friends made this one… Sharlee.

Pom Pom Stuff In

I think Kristin made this.  C, B, and H all love it.  Just burn a hole in the lid of an airtight container, just big enough for a pom pom to fit through.  Easy Peasy!

Gel Writer

Take a dollar store bottle of hair gel, fill a gallon sized zipper bag, add up to 1 T. of glitter and a few drops of food coloring.  Zip bag closed making sure you have no air pockets.  Mash the bag until it’s all incorporated.  I like My kids like to smash the imprint of my hand their hands into it.

Felt Fishies

This is the one that ALL the kids love, after all, who doesn’t love to go fishing?  My friend Maria made this one but she doesn’t have a blog so I can’t link you :(

I don’t know where she got the template for the fishies – maybe she just made it up.  But just trace 2 of the same fish shape in every color of felt you plan to use.  Hot glue them together with either a small magnet, paper clip or soda can tab inside near the mouth.  She had some of the paper clips slightly sticking out.  Glue a googly eye on and you’ve got your fish! 

To make the ‘pole’, just take a small wooden dowel, tape some yarn or string near the end, glue 2 round magnets to the end, sandwiching the string.  Ta da!!

Chalk Blocks

Ok, I’ll admit it, THIS is my very favorite!  Maybe I have an obsession with chalk.  Maybe.  But you can’t tell me it’s not totally awesome!  Four small blocks of wood, painted with chalkboard paint.  So simple and yet the possibilities are endless.  C likes to take one block at a time and fill the whole block up with white chalk (hence the white-ish block in the pic).  The girls like to draw one pic and spread it amongst all 4 blocks then take their picture apart.

Felt Shapes

I think this one is totally clever.  H really likes this one.  So does C.  I haven’t really let B play with it yet because I’m pretty sure he’ll find fun in throwing the little pieces EVERYWHERE!

It’s a DVD case with a piece of white felt clipped into the clippy things (I’m sure that’s the technical name) on the inside.  Then just cut a bunch of different shapes out of felt in all lots of colors.  H likes to make designs with it.  C just thinks it’s cool that felt sticks to felt.

So, are you ready to host your own busy bag exchange?  Go for it!  Just make sure you invite me.  ;)

I’ll do another Busy Bag post once we’ve had a chance to go through a few more of them.  I need to show you the ones I did, also.

**To see more Busy Bag ideas, click here**