In December I attended a toddler busy bag swap. Before the event invitation I had never heard of busy bags. Basically a busy bag is an activity in a bag. They often contain some kind of educational lesson or help develop a skill. The great thing about a busy bag swap is you select a busy bag and make a bunch of the same bags (in my case 15 bags) then you get to swap bags with other mom's who made different busy bags (in my case I received 15 different bags).
The busy bags were lifesavers during the winter months while stuck indoors. I tried to space them out and use 1 bag per week. I would pull one out during Nora's morning nap when Sawyer and I were having one-on-one time. He loves them because they are new and exciting and he gets lots of attention when we are playing. Another added bonus is I can usually step away and get a little work done while he is entranced by the new activity. Then at the end of Nora's nap we put them away (some of them have small pieces) that way the novelty does not wear off as quickly. Thus far each activity bag has kept him busy for a solid 30 minutes.
- Colored pom-poms in ice cube tray w/ tongs
- Colored eggs
- String colored noodles
- I Spy bottle
- Color wheel
- Gel bag for letter tracing
- Lacing cards
- Homemade play dough
- Paper towel art
- Rubbing plates
- Texture cards
- Fruits of the Spirit bean bag toss
- Very Hungry Caterpillar (button manipulation)
- Shape finger puppets
- Milkcap counting
- Felt cupcake decorating
- Shape matching
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| Sawyer stringing noodles, can't you just feel the concentration |
I would highly recommend a busy bag swap for any mom who has young children. I think the next one I attend will be more focused on preschool age children...maybe next winter!
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