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Tried and True Busy Bags

September 17, 2019 by Sarah Leave a Comment

Have you noticed that I write a TON about quiet time activities in this space, but not a lot about busy bags? There is a reason for that! 

Quiet time in our home is about resting and allowing little ones some mindful time. Quiet time is FAR more than simply keeping little ones busy.

I write all about Quiet Time, as well as offer you my favourite quiet time activities in this freebie: The Best Quiet Time Activities – please grab it!

Grab your Quiet Time Freebie

But busy bags also have there place in a childhood I have learned. To me busy bags are different than quiet time activities. Busy bags are for times when little ones need to be kept busy for a few moments: waiting at an appointment, when Mama needs to make a call, or even out at a restaurant. 

The absolute best Busy Bags for kids! Over 40 independent activities perfect for toddlers, preschoolers, and big kids too! #howweelearn  #busybags #kidsactivities #quiettime

Busy bags in our home have saved me from flipping on the screens! That is something that definitely is worth it’s weight in gold.

So today I wanted to share with you some …

Mama Approved Busy Bags

Busy Bags for Babies and Toddlers

This is a fabulous quiet time activity for preschoolers and toddlers! Pompom hockey using a straw for blowing. So many awesome quiet bins idea on this site.

Pompom Hockey. Little ones love to use straws to blow pompoms! Add some nets and you have a bust bag perfect for toddlers. 

This is such a great idea for quiet time! This quiet time activity for preschoolers is perfect for independent play.

Puppet Making Busy Bags. Create a puppet or two ahead of time so very young toddlers can enjoy some imaginative play. Older toddlers and preschoolers can create their own puppets.

Take peek-a-boo with your baby to a whole new level with a scrap fabric busy bag! You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Fabric Reveal Busy Bag, By The Playful Learner – Watch baby pull out, explore and hide behind different textured fabrics.  It sounds like baby heaven! Here The Playful Learner shares three more easy and adorable busy bags for babies.  

Lacing strengthens fine motor skills and increases focus. You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Lacing Cards, By Making Danish – This activity is an engaging and rich learning experience for preschoolers and young kids: it exercises hand-eye coordination, can increase focus, strengthens their pincer grip and much more!  Wow!

These busy bags provide a great sensory experience and opportunities for rich conversation with your little one. You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Sensory Busy Bags, By Must Have Mama – Must Have Mama suggests stashing some busy bags for mama’s sick days.  How brilliant!  Engage preschoolers by asking them to poke all the red dots or separate five beads into a corner.

You can make this busy bag for babies and toddlers in seconds! You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Pom-pom Push, By Busy Toddler – Babies and toddlers love poking pom-poms through little holes and watching them disappear. Pop this busy bag (or busy box) into a diaper bag and strengthen fine motor skills on the go!

Babies and toddlers can improve hand-eye coordination with this threading busy bag. Straws provide sturdy support for little ones just learning the skill. You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Straw and Cardboard Tube Threading, By Laughing Kids Learn –  Straws are a great sturdy option for babies and toddlers new to threading.  Practice golf balls can be used if you are worried about your cardboard tubes getting crushed.

No-sew busy bags like this one are great for color matching and strengthening fine motor skills. You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Button Flowers, By Kindred Inspirations – These button flowers are a great way for little once to practice and strengthen their button fastening abilities. Kindred Inspirations shares three additional no-sew felt busy bag ideas here.

You can make this busy bag for babies and toddlers in seconds! You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Pipecleaner Spice Jar Push, By Fun and Engaging Activities for Toddlers – Improve hand-eye co-ordination and strengthen fine motor skills with this inexpensive busy bag.  You can use cotton swaps if you don’t have pipe-cleaners on hand.

These velcro popsicle sticks are easy to make and can be used for various learning and creative activities. You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Velcro Sticks, By Powerful Mothering – I just love when busy bags can be used in so many creative ways.  Toddlers, preschoolers and young kids will love making letters, color sorting or even creating little worlds with these velcro sticks.

These building blocks are inexpensive and easy to make. They can inspire creativity and fun games. You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Egg Carton Building Blocks, By The Pinterested Parent – Raid your fridge or recycling bin for this craft supply and grab yourself some paint – VOILA – a busy bag! These blocks are safe and fun to use for kids of all ages and will certainly encourage creative building!

This simple puzzle is a great busy bag activity for new puzzle fans. You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Cookie-Cutter Match, By Glued to My Crafts – These brightly-colored plastic cookie cutters are a great chunky item to use in matching busy bags for babies and toddlers.  You can create a similar activity by replacing the cookie cutters with small toys or foam shapes.

Busy Bags for Preschoolers

These name puzzles are a great way to learn a name for preschoolers! All you need is popsicle sticks too. #KwikStix #sponsored #preschool #name #letters #learning

Name Puzzles. Using popsicle sticks have little ones colour pictures, designs or their names! They can then use these as busy bags – it’s tougher than it looks. 

Amazing fine motor activities to build dexterity - Slingshot quiet bin

Sling Shot Busy Bag. If you have a little one not too keen on independent play, or a challenge to engage, this busy bag is for you!

Toddlers will love engaging with these fun felt shape puzzles. You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Shape Puzzle, By Teach Me Mommy – Use cardboard, foam or felt to cut shapes into smaller pieces and create this simple learning puzzle on the go.

Paperclips can be used for so many creative learning busy bags! Find out how! You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Paperclips Busy Bag, By Powerful Mothering – Who knew that there were so many fun ways to play and learn with paperclips? Sorting colors and making letter is only the beginning!  In addition, all of these paperclip activities strengthen fine motor skills!  Yay!

This busy bag allows toddlers to practice the all-important skill of fastening buttons. Many games can still be played once their felt chain is made. You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Button Felt Chain, By A Crafty Living – This busy bag activity gets your kiddos to practice their buttoning skills or create fun patterns.  Once their chain is done, they can use it to measure things or bend them to form different shapes!

Your child will love exploring big person materials with this hardware busy bag! You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Nuts and Bolts Busy Bag, By Preschool Powol Packets – Get your child thinking analytically while practicing their fine motor skills with this simple busy bag.  

Your child can create a variety of bugs and other critters with a few felt shapes and googly eyes. You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Build-a-Bug Busy Bag, By Teach me Mommy – Your little ones can enjoy some creative play on-the-go with this easy-to-make busy bag.  Simply cut-out a few shapes in various colours and toss in some googly eyes.  They might even make more than just bugs!

This simple tic-tac-toe game is inexpensive, reusable and easy to make. Fun can be had with kids of all ages - adults too! You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Busy Bag Tic-Tac-Toe, By Simply Play Ideas – I can see this being a perfect busy bag to pull out on long car rides or during some downtime at the cottage.  Kids will love inviting everyone from siblings to grama to play a little game with them.  

This busy bag is a great numeracy activity! You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Donut Sprinkle Game, By Glued to My Crafts – Your child must roll the dice and add the rolled number of sprinkles to play the game.  Alternatively, toppings can be added to a pizza, or pretend candy toppings can be added to a cake. 

Endless learning can happen with these matching cards. Get more than one child involved and you can have a game! You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Picture Matching Cards, By Little Learning Club – Depending on the pictures you cut-out, you can create matching cards of different themes.  Have your preschooler sort fruits and vegetables, farm animals and jungle animals, trucks versus boats etc.  You can add a card for counting and one for color sorting to be used with the same pictures.

Here we share a few options for making your own geoboard. Geoboards are great for a variety of activities and serve many benefits including improving coordination and fine motor skills. You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Geoboard Busy Bag, By More Than ABC and 123 – Geoboards are great for improving coordination and fine motor skills and they can keep kiddos focussed for a LONG time! Here are some ideas if you want to make your own. Kids Activities Blog uses map pins and a foam board, securing the pins with modge podge.  My Baba creates one with nails and wood.  The one we have shown above uses peg board, nuts and bolts.

Preschoolers can have fun using dry-erase markers to practice their pre-writing skills with this busy bag! You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Tracing Lines, By Happy Brown House – These line tracing printables are perfect for your preschooler to practice their pre-writing skills on-the-go.  Use the same idea for practicing letters, sight words, numbers or shapes.  Warning: this could be a frustrating experience in a moving car, so maybe don’t pull them out then.  

Story stones are great for sparking your child's imagination. They are simple to make and can be used time and time again. You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Story Stones Busy Bag, By Preschool Inspirations – Children can use story stones to guide the creation of an oral storytelling. Preschool Inspirations has provided a free printable with images you can paste onto stones with Modge Podge.  You can also paint or draw directly on to stones with an older child.  If the stones are too heavy for travel, natural wood slices could work well too.

Busy Bags for Kids 

FREE PRINTABLE! These quiet time activities for kids are absolutely NO Prep and NO Mess! Grab an idea and have 15 minutes of peace and quiet. BRILLIANT. #howweelearn #quiettime #kidsactivities #freeprintable #noprep #nomess #messfree #preschoolactivities #craftsforkids #kidscrafts #playideas #simple

Quiet Moments in a Jar. I created this post for when we need 10-20 minutes of quiet. I have realised that ALL of the ideas in this post make fabulous bust bags! Best of all — NO prep!

Learn to read Quiet Bins!

Learning to Read Busy Bags. If you have a new reader, or a child just on the verge of reading, you will love these ideas! 

These two busy boxes allow for great creativity on-the-go and they are super simple to make! You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

LEGO and Art Travel Box, By Repeat Crafter Me – You can easily grab two staples of a creative childhood and take them on the go: LEGO and drawing.  These are perfect for road trips or long waits at appointments.

The pictures make this rhyming busy bag easy for pre-readers to play with anywhere. You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Rhyming Words Busy Bag, By Happy Brown House – This little set is perfect for pre-readers and can be played independently or as a game. 

This genius busy bag - or box - allows children to practice letter or sight word recognition whereever they are. You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Word Building Busy Box, By i heart crafty things – This busy bag really is as easy as it looks.  Kids can play independently or as a reading game with a partner. This activity can be simplified for preschoolers learning their letters.

This busy bag exposes children to early math concepts and explores creativity. You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Tangram Busy Bag – By One Mama’s Daily Drama – Apart from being plain ol’ fun, tangrams are perfect for strengthening problem solving, logical thinking and visual-spatial awareness.  What a mouthful of benefits!  Use wooden tangrams or the free printables provided in the link.

The pictures make this game easy for pre-readers. Get more than one child involved and you can have a game! You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Letter Sounds Busy Bag, By Fun with Mama – This busy bag for kids can easily be made by with pictures of objects or small toys you have one hand.  Write the letters on a small piece of cardstock and you’re all set.  

What a great way to introduce your child to the mind-stretching game of Sudoku! You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Color Sudoku, By All Our Days – Sudoku is a wonderful game for developing logic and memory skills, but it can be challenging for young children.  This Color Sudoku game is a great way to introduce your child to this fun game.

Wikki Stix are a quick, mess-free way to bring a creative manipulative on- the-go. You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Wikki Stix, – Wikki Stix are made from “food grade wax and hand knitting yarn” making them a delightfully unique material for endless creations.  They are an easy, mess-free to bring creativity on the go. 

Take art on-the-go with these beautiful weaving busy bags. You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Yarn Weave Busy Bag, By Hello Wonderful – I am still relishing at the sheer beauty of these yarn weaves! They can be beautiful mini-projects that your child creates over multiple occasions and looks forward to completing. Add beads and different textured yarns for cool effects.

We trust that this collection of road trip printables will keep your kids happy and occupied. Some of these activities are adaptable to circumstances beyond road trips. You can find more stellar busy bags for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kids by clicking here! #howweelearn #busybags #quiettime #finemotor #preschoolactivities #kidsactivities

Road Trip Printables, By 123Homeschool4Me – These printables are amazing for roadtrips and will engage kids of all ages.  A few of these pages, including the ABC I-Spy game, can be modified for any trip. If you are out for dinner, kids can search for items that start with each letter within the restaurant.

These are 5 busy bags that only use one deck of cards! Such simple, no-prep quiet time activities for preschoolers. #howweelearn #quiettime #busybags #kidsactivities #easy #preschoolactivities #deckofcards #playideas #quietboxes #quietbins

Card Game Busy Bags. If you have one pack of cards (any cards!) you have everything you meed for these 5 different busy bag ideas!

The absolute best Busy Bags for kids! Over 40 independent activities perfect for toddlers, preschoolers, and big kids too! #howweelearn  #busybags #kidsactivities #quiettime

I hope these busy bag ideas are just what you were after for your toddlers, preschoolers, and kids of all ages! I have a new found love for busy bags friends – I hope you do too!

Busy bags are great for building fine motor skills, increasing attention, and independence too. Now, they are not quite up there with all of the benefits of quiet time, but there is definitely a place for busy bags after all.

Thank you so much for reading friends!

 

Filed Under: All Ages, Preschooler, Quiet Time Tagged With: busy bags

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