Busy With Busy Bags

After seeing these on Pinterest, I knew I had to make some.  Busy bags are little games/activities that you keep in a Ziploc baggie and pull out when the kids need something new to keep them busy.  I use them as a learning tool and usually do them with the kids, but they are just fun to have and really fun to make.  Here are all the different busy bags that I've made along with a link to the site I first saw the idea on, or the site I downloaded items from.  I picked most of these ideas with Mackenzie in mind, but Rylan loves them as well, so I change up some of the directions for him.  

1. Clothespin Number Match

http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2010/05/prek-numbers-shapes-colors-review.html

How to Use: Count the dots and clip the corresponding clothespin to that section of the wheel.  

This is such a perfect bag for both Rylan and Mackenzie because Mackenzie can practice the smaller numbers and Rylan can practice the larger numbers.  Also, I wrote the numbers out of the backside of the clothespins, so Rylan can also practice reading them.  Clothespins are great for fine motor development too.

 You will see that I got many ideas from this particular site: www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com
There are so many printables available, it was hard for me not to print everything!

2. Valentine Patterns

http://secondstorywindow.typepad.com/home/2012/02/valentine-busy-bag.html

 How to Use: Use the big hearts to reproduce the printed patterns.

Mackenzie uses the given patterns and Rylan will make up his own to see how long he can make it.  He LOVES any sort of repeating pattern! 

3. Letter and Number tracing pages

http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2010/08/z-tracing-worksheets.html

How to Use:  Trace the letters and numbers with dry erase markers.

I laminated everything, so we can easily write on things with dry erase markers, erase and reuse.  Obviously, Rylan knows how to write all his letters and numbers without tracing them, but he loves to do this with different colors and make a pattern.  I've also timed him doing this to see how fast he can get it done.  He's a little pokey at school getting his work done because he's so particular on how his letters look.  He has wonderful handwriting, but we (parents and teacher) are encouraging him to get a little sloppy in order to speed it up a bit.  So timed exercises like this are good.  Mackenzie will usually trace a few letters and then get bored and just start coloring the whole thing so she can erase it all.  Erasing is her favorite part.

4. Pom Pom Patterns

http://secondstorywindow.typepad.com/home/2011/10/toddler-time-busy-bag-exchange-part-3-freebie.html

How to Use: Place pom poms on printed pattern sheets.

Again, Rylan loves the patterns and Mackenzie just loves to play with fuzzy pom poms.

5. Clothesline

http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/05/free-cothesline-busy-bag-instructions-and-pattern-download.html

How to Use: Tie rope between 2 chairs, pin clothes using clothespins.

I made this one thinking the kids would just have fun with it, but it's been really good for Mackenzie's fine motor skills.  It uses mini-clothespins and she has a tough time holding the clothing with one hand while clipping with the other, so she really has to concentrate.  She prefers to just drape each item over the clothesline, but I can't blame her.  A variation of this game we haven't tried yet is to give the child a little tub of water and have them wash the clothes before they put them on the line.  The link given above is excellent, providing printable templates and directions for making and using this busy bag.  Fleece scraps were perfect for our clothing!

6. Foam Shape Sorting

How to Use: Match the foam shapes to the laminated page

I came up with this one on my own, but I'm sure someone else has too.  I found a package of 100 foam sheets (4"x6") at the dollar store, so I cut out lots of shapes!  Obviously, this is an easy one for both kids, but it's great for Mackenzie's speech because she says each shape as she puts it in the right spot.  Most shape names she still mispronounces, so the repetition is great for her.  And I think she likes to have one bag that is easy for her.  Although, the very first time, she had a hard time getting past the colors.  She kept putting everything yellow on the rectangle page and so on.  It took a little bit for her brain to focus only on the shapes.

7. Alphabet Match-Up

http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2010/06/z-review-clothespin-match-up.html

How to Use: Clip the pin to the matching letter or beginning sound

This is such a great bag for both kids as well.  Each clothespin has uppercase on one side and lowercase on the other.  Mackenzie primarily knows her uppercase letters, so working on her lowercase letters is great.  And Rylan likes to do the picture wheel to match up the letter with the beginning sound of each object.  I kind of wish the pictures didn't go in alphabetical order so it would be unpredictable, but I wasn't about to recreate this beauty, so it stayed as is!

8. Event Sequencing Cards.

How to Use: Put each group of pictures in order of the event pictured.

One of Mackenzie's new goals for school is to work on sequencing events.  So we are practicing at home with these cards.  I just googled "sequencing cards" in images and found all these to print.  Obviously the ones with more cards are more difficult, but she loves playing with these.  They are also good conversation starters for Mackenzie.  Sometimes I will put them in order and ask her to tell about what's happening.  It's great for her vocabulary.

9. Bead Counting

http://secondstorywindow.typepad.com/home/2011/10/toddler-time-busy-bag-exchange-part-3-freebie.html

How to Use: Place the correct number of beads in each spot.

Mackenzie doesn't quite have the patience for this yet, but she likes to just play with the beads, it's good for her fine motor development.  Rylan loves counting, so he loves this game.  This would be a good one to time him doing and see if he can get faster with counting each time.  

10. Pre-Writing Practice

http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2009/10/letter-b-for-butterfly.html

How to Use: Use a dry erase marker to trace the lines and shapes for pre-writing practice.

This one is great for Mackenzie because it makes her practice control with her writing.  The small cards are perfect for her little hands and the colors and design are very appealing.  Another great printable from www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com!  The link above and the one below go to pages with tons of stuff related to a specific letter (B for butterfly, L for ladybug) so scroll down and you'll find these specific ones I printed, but there are so many more great activities for preschoolers.

11. Ladybug Size Sorting

http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2011/01/letter-l-for-ladybug.html

How to Use: Sort the ladybugs by size

Obviously, this one is pretty easy, but the cards are so cute and the colors are great, I just had to print it.  You can also use these to identify colors and count the dots.

12. Button Snake 

http://www.jonahlisadyer.com/2009/05/cheap-easy-button-snake.html

How to Use: Place the button through each felt piece and slide on the ribbon.

The link for this one has detailed instructions on how to make this with pictures of each step.  The only thing I did differently is I didn't sew one of the felt pieces to the end of the ribbon.  I left the end open so all the pieces can easily be removed to start over.  Rylan hasn't done this one yet, but I'm sure he'll make some patterns with his pieces.  Mackenzie loved this one (she did all the pieces on the pink ribbon by herself) and asked for more pieces.  She gets frustrated with buttons on her clothing, so these are great practice for her.

13.  Magazine Clippings by Category

Categorizing objects and naming those categories is another of Mackenzie's school goals, so I cut these out the other day but haven't used them yet.  I'm not exactly sure what we'll do, but maybe I'll start by showing her a few pictures and ask her what they all are.  Then maybe we'll mix a bunch up and I'll ask her to pick out all the pictures that are animals.  All the clothing ones I figured I would mix up and ask her to pick out all the shirts, then all the pants, then ask her what's left. (dresses, shoes, hats).  I still have a One Step Ahead catalog to go through to cut out pictures of kids doing different things, like eating, sleeping, playing, so we'll work on those next.  Some of these pictures came from my People magazine, so yes, in the baby category, I have pictures of Blue Ivy Carter(Beyonce and Jay-Z) and Harper Beckham(Victoria and David Beckham).

Last but not least, my favorite busy bag of them all.  (and the most time consuming)

14. Felt Pizza

http://www.playcreateexplore.com/p/busy-bags.html

How to Use: Use the recipe book to make pizzas for family members or just be creative and have fun!

When I saw this one, I knew the kids would love it!  I'm considering making another, because I just finished it yesterday and they've done nothing but fight over it.  I would never thought of this idea on my own, so I'm thankful I ran across this blog post.  It is a cardboard pizza crust, a piece of felt for sauce and all felt toppings.  I made some of the book on my computer, then drew the toppings on with pencil and marker.  The topping page is good for Rylan to practice his reading.

The following pages are Nick, I and grandparents with their preferred pizza type.  (well, mine and Nick's are accurate, but I just made something up for our parents.  Sorry Mom & Dad, Randy and Merr.  I didn't think you'd care too much :)

Not only is this a fun activity, but it's great for Mackenzie to follow directions and count out the right number of pieces.  And she loves making food for us to eat, so it's so much for special when she can make our "favorite" pizza.  She so proudly brings it to us to taste!

I made a page for both kids with all the toppings and blank spots so they can make up their own pizza and then write in the number of pieces they want on that particular day (or minute).  Again, it's all laminated, so I just threw a dry-erase marker in the bag and they can use it whenever they need to.

Here is Mackenzie playing with it yesterday.  When I first gave it to her, I showed her what all the pieces were, then came back to quiz her later.  It cracked me up because when I asked her what the sausage piece was, she said "peanut".  And she said "wheel" for the olive.  I couldn't disagree with her, because that is what they look like, but it was cute.  Here she was putting an olive on each piece of pepperoni.  I had to quickly cut more olives, because I didn't have the same number of each and she noticed for sure!  

And now we have to be sure to check our oven before pre-heating for anything.  I let Mackenzie use the lower oven (the one we hardly ever use anyway) to bake her pizzas.  She was thrilled that I let her put her pizza in there and ran right upstairs to the play kitchen to get a child-size oven mitt.  It was great!

I have two more bags in mind to make, but haven't gotten around to it yet.  One of them is face magnets in a tin.  You can see it on the same link as the felt pizza, at the very bottom of the post.

Another is a marble maze as seen here.

 http://servingpinklemonade.blogspot.com/2010/07/marble-travel-game.html

Looks easy and fun and the perfect travel or church game!