It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a new Busy Bag idea, but here’s a new idea I came up with today. Well, I’m not sure how “new” it is since it is really basic and uses stuff you probably already have on hand, but it definitely kept Silas occupied and having fun for awhile during our morning homeschooling time.
Of course, it also made a bit of a mess, too. But that’s kind of par for the course with my life right now. 🙂
I gave him a little tub of beads, a small baby spoon, and a muffin tin and egg carton. He had a lot of fun scooping up the beads and transferring them from the tub to the muffin tin to the egg carton.
Variations:
::You could have a child use pinchers of some sort to pick up the beads and put them in the muffin tin or egg carton.
::You could use other objects, such as rice, noodles, pom-poms, beans, or other similar objects.
::You could tape a number to the bottom of each muffin tin hole and your child could have to put the designated number of beads in each hole.
::If using colored beads or pom-poms, you could have the child sort by color.
Other Simple Toddler Activities:
Water Scooping and Pouring
Pool Noodle Stringing
Pom Pom Stuff It In
More Busy Bag Ideas
Mandy M says
To help contain the mess you can put the whole set in a jelly roll pan, then when the beads fall outside of the container, they are still contained 🙂
Arianne says
My 19-month-old son loves to play with bead necklaces (the kind you can find at Party City), muffin tins, and empty vitamin bottles. He figured out that if he holds the top with one hand and the bottom with the other hand, he can feed the necklace into the bottles or tins much easier. He will spend hours playing with them. And, no small pieces to make me anxious about him choking.
Sara@Save Money, Live Joyfully says
Last week I was amazed that my 3 year old spent an hour moving pom poms back and forth between jars using spoons and tongs. She loved sorting the colors and then tried building with them. And, for just the cost of a $0.99 bag of pink and purple pom-poms, I was able to get some work done around the house 🙂 It’s funny how such simple activities brings them so much enjoyment!
Lori says
You have an adorable son!
Just an FYI to every one…please be sure to thoroughly wash the egg carton before you allow little hands to play with it!
arianna says
I agree. Egg cartons are unsafe for kids to handle as they could be contaminated with salmonella.
Lana says
I am sad to see the allergy shiners under Silas’ eyes. Poor kid must be having a hard time 🙁
Crystal says
It’s been a rough week for him–and for most everyone with seasonal allergies around here. 🙁 But I’m thankful that he’s been so cheerful, in spite of it.
Lana says
There is a great article about natural seasonal allergy relief on frugallysustainabledotcom today. Our 2 and 3 year old grandsons take a teaspoon of local honey everyday and they can go out and play in the pollen without any problems. They have a beekeeper just 2 miles from their house so I am sure that helps. Hope he feels better soon 🙂
Sporksoma says
Wish I could do this with my Meghan. She’s just about to turn 3 and in August we’re getting her tested because we think she might have ODD, ADHD and OCD as well as being insanely talented and gifted (how many kids do you know who are 3 years old and can tell you that Roy G. Biv means the color spectrum of the rainbow, or name ancient rulers of Mesopotamia?). However, she won’t sit still and something like this…well, beads would be all over my house.
Anyone dealing with an extremely gifted, hyperactive, oppositional/defiant child? :-\ lol (you have to laugh, otherwise you would cry!). Any busy bag sort of ideas for them?
Lana says
Our oldest was/is very smart for anything hands on but could never sit still. He is 32 now. We took him out of kindergarten and began homescholling him because he was always in trouble for being disruptive and getting out of his chair. I let him work at a small free standing desk and I did not make him sit because he could not. He would work with his elbows on the desk walking round and round with his book turning the whole time. He wore the finish off the desk and the back of the books but he could concentrate that way. I understand what you are going through. Consistent discipline is huge even though they seem to not care if they are in trouble for the same offense 15 times in one day. He could not nap but I made him stay in his bed for one hour every afternoon with books and toys that were quiet. This perhaps saved my sanity. It does get better over time. If I were going through it now I would explore the possibility of food allergies affecting his behavior. Even as an adult he has a tandancy to be loud and like to provoke others. He did earn an engineering degree and is an engineer for Honda Manufacturing. He has 3 kids of his own and is a great Dad. He is the way God made him and so we accept that.
Sarah says
My almost-4-year-old is “gifted” also, and while she doesn’t like sitting still for activities, there are certain things she enjoys doing.
Her favorite thing to do is to play school if SHE is the teacher. She has to figure out ways to to explain the topic to me (she chooses the topic). Sometimes I get a lecture about dinosaurs, sometimes she just writes her letters. But, by putting her in control, she is able to express her knowledge in a positive outlet.
She will occasionally tolerate some hands-on activities, but she will go from activity to activity, not staying in any one place for more than 5 minutes. It’s very exhausting!
But, I will also say, I noticed a HUGE difference between turning 3 and 3.5. I was very, very discouraged as a parent until my daughter turned about 3.5 and was able to put some of her gifts into having a vivid imagination. She really enjoys making up and acting out story-lines and plots, and that helps free up some of her creative energy so SHE gets less frustrated too.
melissa says
My daughter is very smart as well. If your child is learning sight words already, you could make sight word cards and magnetic letters on a baking sheet. Have her read the card and spell the word with the magnetic letters. You can do the same with more simpler items as well like shape matching, colors, or just letter/number recognition.
Emily says
I would like to make this for a friend with a 23 month old. Should I be worried about him choking on the beads?
Thanks!
Linda says
Your son is so cute and sweet looking! Hope you all have a wonderful day!
Cort says
HAHA LOVE those pics of Silas! He is sooooo cute. I have two little boys, they are so funny aren’t they! This looks like a great idea for my little guy. I may try pom poms, he would probably swallow the beads before I had a chance to get them out of his mouth:)
Rebekah from Simply Rebekah says
Oh my word. How cute is he!?!? I almost can’t handle it! 🙂
Janice says
We’ve also had fun transfering beads with child tweezers into the suction cups of a bath mat/decal.
I sell these sets in my etsy shop if you’d like to see what they look like: http://www.etsy.com/shop/feltyfun?ref=si_shop
MaryEllen says
Oh my goodness, what a cute little face!
Jen says
I love the Cheerios idea instead of beads. I’m afraid quite a few would get dropped/spilled at our house. Beads + a baby crawling around on the floor = bad idea. Cheerios + crawling baby = perfect!!
Rachel @ BusyBagCentral.blogspot.com says
You can always have activities contained within a cookie sheet, Jen. The lip of the pan will corral the small items (saving your toes and the baby) and will lead to less frustration for the preschooler (since their creative tools won’t go away from their workspace).
Merrilee says
Great busy bag idea, but I think that handsome little fella stole the limelight! I should try this idea with my 3 year old son.
Rachel @ BusyBagCentral.blogspot.com says
How fun! We’ll be using a few activities with plastic eggs and egg cartons closer to Easter.
I’ve been posting a bunch of our recent busy bag activities at http://www.BusyBagCentral.blogspot.com.
We also include reviews by 2-year-olds and 4-year-olds of the activities as well as ideas small/large motor skill activities.
We’ll do a link-back to this post once we get the activity up. Thanks for the ideas, as always, Crystal.
Rachel @ BusyBagCentral.blogspot.com says
Crystal — as promised, here is the post regarding another version of play with Easter eggs:
http://busybagcentral.blogspot.com/2012/04/easter-egg-matching-activity.html
We gave it a twist by alternating the colors of egg tops-bottoms so my 4 year old preschooler would be challenged and then have ideas for making it easy for the younger preschooler (which my 2 year old can do)!!
May says
A friend did a demonstration at a homeschool convention a few years back along the same lines. She told my, then 3 year old, daughter to sit inside a hula hoop laid on the floor. Then she gave my daughter beginners chop sticks, a cupcake pan and a tub of buttons and told her to use the sticks to sort the buttons into the cupcake pan. She could sort them however she wanted but she had to stay within the hoop. My daughter, who has difficulties to this day staying on one task for more than 10 minutes, sorted those buttons for at least 20 minutes!
Rachel @ BusyBagCentral.blogspot.com says
great idea, May!
Brandi @ Savvy Student Shopper says
He’s such a cutie and getting big!
Brandy says
What a cutie pie! He is just the perfect mix of you and your hubby! And I love his little spiked up hair! Just precious!
Rachel says
What a great idea! Silas is a DOLL! 🙂
Carina Ibarra says
I accidently discovered this the other day when my 20 month old was driving me crazy. Gave him two little bowls with a handful of beans and he spent an entire hour moving them back and forth. Who knew keeping kids entertained could be so easy?
Meghan S says
I used this same idea with cheerios with my son the other day – put in silicone muffin cups in a tin to give it color and he was entertained for a good 30 mins (he’s 22 months old)
Crystal says
oh, I LOVE this idea! Thanks for sharing!