Before school started, my wonderful in-laws took my three boys for a few days to give me a chance to wrap my head around homeschooling this year. What a gift! During that time I made and created several “busy bags” to keep my children learning and engaged while I am working 1:1 with another child. I had seen some examples of busy bags on Pinterest, but as with anything on Pinterest it can be difficult and overwhelming to sort through ideas!
So….What are busy bags? Busy bags are grab and go bags with learning activities inside. I use pencil pouches that are small and compact like these. I like pouches with clear windows to see what is inside. Here is what I look for when I select and create a busy bag.
- Age Appropriate and Independent – is the activity appropriate for the ages of my kids, and can they do it independently after I have taught them how to use it?
- Inexpensive – I should be able to fill these bags with items I already have on hand or can use for multiple projects.
- Easy and Quick – These should not take me much time to create and fill.
- Not consumable – I have a few exceptions, but for the most part what goes in the bag goes back into the bag when they are finished so that I don’t have to fill them back up with supplies.
- Serves a Purpose – The bags I choose are often working on fine motor development, math, literacy, or STEM skills.
When do I use them? I pull out a couple of these bags each day. My kids do not have access to all of them all of the time. I make sure that the kids are familiar with the bags or we spend time teaching the bags to them so that they are able to do them independently. Typically my 3 year old will start with the bags while I work with my 5 year old on a homeschool lesson. Then we switch and my 5 year old has time with the bags while the 3 year old works with me. I also make sure that my children are the ones who clean up all the pieces of the bag when they are finished.
Here are a few of my favorites!
My purpose here is to encourage and empower you to make your own bags! However, if you are interested in purchasing these bags I do sell them. Please email me at kristenmeyers56@gmail.com for a price list and description.
Note: A laminator and paper cutter are helpful tools in creating these busy bags. Similar pouches to the ones shown are linked here.
1. Beads and Pipe Cleaners
Materials; Pipe Cleaners, assorted beads
Pony Beads are typical patterning beads here, but I also found some fun themed beads such as Transportation, Oceans, and Noah’s Ark at Hobby Lobby.
Note for younger learners: my 18th month old can do this activity using a stronger paper straw and a larger wooden bead (also found at Hobby Lobby). I give him only a couple of beads at a time!
2. Clothespin Shapes
These cheerful shapes are great for the 2-4 year range, but my 5 year old also loves to participate! Color recognition, shape recognition, number recognition, and fine motor skills are all practiced in this busy bag.
Materials: printed shape cards, laminator (I use this one), clothespins – (I painted mine, but I recently found these already colored), black sharpie marker for making the numbers and dots
Here are the pdf shapes I created, for personal use only.
3. Alphabet Parking Spaces
We love anything with wheels in our home! This was a simple busy bag to make with several variations you can do. I made the uppercase to lowercase letter matching in this bag. Consider:
- uppercase letter matching
- lowercase letter matching
- uppercase to lowercase letter matching
- number matching
- Addition problems with sum on the beads
Materials: transportation beads, craft foam , black sharpie marker
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Kristen's Korner 
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