Have you ever heard of a busy bag? Have you ever made one for your kids?
I haven't... so I am excited to be joining up with several awesome bloggers for a Busy Bag of the Month series. Each blogger will share a busy bag idea each month.
A busy bag is a simple learning activity for younger kids (anywhere from age 1-6 or 7) that is portable and can help keep little kids occupied for short periods of time.
The activities can usually fit inside a small ziploc bag that can then be shoved into your purse... perfect for when you are on the go and need an activity.
This month we are sharing a Fall themed busy bag idea using acorns and some baby food containers we have around the house.
Supplies: fake acorns (we bought ours at Target in the dollar spot), small containers & lids (we used plastic baby food containers), acorn and leaf stickers, and a sharpie.
Prep Ahead:
Before we could do the activity I stuck an acorn sticker with a number written on it at the bottom of each baby food container. I also wrote numbers 1-5 on leaf stickers that I stuck on each baby food lid. The lid and container colors and numbers matched... so for example, the yellow 2 had a yellow 2 acorn on the container and a yellow 2 leaf on the lid.
Once the materials were prepped, my daughter was ready to play!
This activity provided an opportunity to count, match, sort, and make music! My 3-year-old loved it.
Directions:
For this activity I sat and played with my daughter for a few minutes and then let her explore and play on her own while I worked on stuff in the same room. I can already tell that busy bags are going to be lifesavers when my son has friends over and my daughter is bored.
First she read each number at the bottom of the containers. Then she filled in each container with the correct number of acorns. Sometimes she didn't fill them correctly, but I just let her work on this in her own way.
Next she took the lids and matched the lid to a corresponding baby food container.
Once the lids and containers were matched, she put the lids on top and closed them up.
Then she grabbed a few closed containers and had fun rocking out with her newly-made acorn shakers.
After she shook them for awhile, she opened up the containers again, took all the acorns out, and started over again with counting acorns into containers, sorting them by color, and matching the number lids to the containers.
This acorn math busy bag activity can be easily stacked and stuffed into a small bag so that you can transport it with you!
I am also excited about the busy bags by the other Busy Bag of the Month contributors. Make sure to check them out as they get posted...
Counting Ghosts by And Next Comes L
Pumpkin Number Matching by Coffee Cups and Crayons
Make sure to check out all our favorite busy bags on the Busy Bags for the Kiddos Pinterest board!
Here are some other Toddler Approved activities you could try in a busy bag...
PS- Have you entered our Room on the Broom Giveaway yet?
I would love to know where I can purchase the baby food containers.
You would need to purchase baby food in plastic containers, use the baby food, and then clean out the containers to use for the project.
This is great! Did you get the acorn/leaf stickers at Target as well?
Fantastic busy bag! I'm featuring this on The Sunday Showcase this weekend. Thanks for linking up!
This is awesome! I need to go to Target!