Wednesday Why's: reasons why we love Busy Bags...

Reason #834 why we love Busy Bags:

It’s a ‘go with me’ kind of toy.  We don’t allow most toys to leave the house since they can take up so much space in my purse or in the car (usually ended up cluttered on the car floor!). 

But the Busy Bags are a perfect addition for an outing since they are self-contained activities that lay-flat. Great to pull out of the diaper bag while required to wait in public, such as the doctor’s office, in church or wherever!

What are the reasons you like Busy Bags? What is your favorite activity for your child related to their age or skill-level?

Movin’ Mondays – Domino trains

(Photo of my toddler using the Instgram app…isn’t is cool?!?)

One of our favorite family game night games is Dominoes.  We have the Mexican Train domino version. The rules are for the players to start with seven dominoes in their hand with a double-number domino placed in the center.  Then each person places their matching number domino and you take turns matching up your dominoes which form a train. If you can’t match, then you draw one and put up a plastic train on your line so others can play.

But playing games with a preschooler and toddler doesn’t usually involve rule-following.  Our two year old adores the plastic miniature trains so he is usually focused on playing with those while our four year old likes to count the dots on the dominoes.  

It’s important to try to teach the basic concepts but we also allow for a lot of ‘interpretation’ of those rules as well…which often leads to other really fun versions of game play! 

What “Moving” activities do you have planned for the week?
(Feel free to comment below)

Wednesday Why's: reasons why we love Busy Bags...

Reason #291 why we love Busy Bags:

Many of the skills learned in these Busy Bags are Montessori-based…I feel like a good parent knowing that my kids are playing with good solid ‘toys’ learning good solid skills.

What are the reasons you like Busy Bags? What is your favorite activity for your child related to their age or skill-level?

Movin’ Mondays – Playing dress-up

If you head over to the house of any little girl, I bet you’ll find a host of dress-up clothes…anything from tu-tu’s to toddler-sized high heals (complete with bling!) to oversized gowns and much more. But for boys, there really aren’t that many ‘dress-up’ options and we just don’t have that many outfits for pretending.

But playing dress-up is a great tool for letting children role play, express emotions, pretend, and much more! It’s a type of play that opens the door to expressing thoughts in a safe way by communicating as ‘someone else’.

So playing dress-up with three little boys gets a little creative around our house.  When we decide to play, half of the game time is allotted to searching for our outfits!

We pull out our magnifying glass and binoculars and go on a ‘hunt’ for the clothes to make up our characters. And we use anything from scarfs to Daddy’s neck-ties to old Halloween costumes to Mommy’s dressy shoes. The end result is a mishmash and often pretty funny but always fun.  Then we spend time playing our character roles; whether that is a role of fireman (photo above), explorer, detective, or anything else these little preschoolers decide to be!

What’s your "Moving” activity to start the week?

Last minute Easter fun with preschoolers!

In case you need any extra Easter weekend ideas for fun with preschoolers, here is some randomness found across the web that all look quick and full of fun-ness!

All sorts of printables over at NickJr.com------

Here is a way to dye eggs using an every day product: Kool Aid-----

My son adores brownies and would love these from KraftRecipes.com----

MakeIt-LoveIt.com has a host of more last minute ideas as well-----

Have fun celebrating Jesus' resurrection this weekend and enjoy the joy your preschoolers find with the holiday! We get to enjoy time with family and eating good food, a nice service on Sunday at church, and lots of candy from our annual family egg hunt with 6 kiddos aged 6 and down!!!

What activities do you have planned or have already completed for Easter weekend?

Easter Egg matching activity

Easter Egg Matching activity! With this weekend holding a fun-filled activity that will probably leave your home with lots of empty eggs by Monday, here is an activity that can put them to creative use this next week! 

Create a scene with construction paper. Trace the shape of the eggs, cut out the halves and then mix them up (i.e. yellow on top and green on the bottom). Then secure the mis-matched eggs onto your background.
Give the preschooler the eggs and ask them to find the matching pairs and place ontop of the correct images on the scene! 

For the younger tot (2 to 3 years), have the eggs already popped in half and ready to match together.  For the older preschooler (4 to 6 years), give them the eggs whole and ask them to pop open and match together by themselves.

Another version is to let the tot create the background scene with you!  Let them practice egg tracing (a hard skill for younger preschoolers) and have them run the gluing of the objects to the background paper.  They can also color or draw on the finished scene for more fun.

I saw a post on one of my favorite blogs (MoneySavingMom.com) that had ideas for reusing plastic eggs with egg cartons and realized that these little objects are perfect for developing finger strength as well as growing sorting skills.  This activity also builds skill sets of: color recognition, finger strength, object manipulation, sorting and grouping as well as skills in patterning and shape recognition.

Enjoy your weekend and may it be filled with the Hope that is found in Jesus Christ!

List of Busy Bags for purchase ~ $3

Individual Busy Bags are available for purchase and are priced at $3 per bag.  Shipping is $5 for the first item and free for as many additional bags that fit in a priority box! Orders can be paid via check or handled faster with Paypal (100% online-security guarantee).

Each activity comes in it’s own plastic baggie with zippered top (good for little fingers to operate) as well as individual instructions.

Here are the current ideas and products available on this website and on Facebook.
List of available products (sorted alphabetically):
1. Alphabet Match-up – using magnetic letters and a printed sheet for letter and color recognition skills
2. Classy Colors – using clothes pins and paint chips for color and visual learning skills as well as building finger strength
3. Match-Me Cards – using colorful objects on cards for matching and recognition skills
4. Pop the Popsicle – using popsicle sticks and color ‘tops’ for matching and recognition skills as well as learning letters and basic sight words
5. Rainbow Bright – using felt and small objects for color sorting, finger dexterity and visual learning skills
6. Straw Beads – using straw beads and lacing items to build life-skills such as stringing; can also help with color recognition and sorting

Please be aware that these contain small parts that can be a risk for unsupervised small children. Take time to educate your child on appropriate use to reduce the risk of choking, suffocation or other injury.

Busy Bag Sensory Kits

Busy Bag Sensory Kits are available!
Orders can be paid via check or handled faster with Paypal (100% online-security guarantee).
Email when ready to order! busybagcentral@gmail.com

All kits include NINE (!) activities with a focus on: Sorting, Matching, Lacing (a hard skill to learn for toddlers), Counting & Math, Color & Number recognition, Sensory development with finger strength growth, Writing, along with visual learning & exploration through free play.

For the current list of Busy Bag Central's SENSORY KITS, go to either of these pages....
-Master List: http://busybagcentral.blogspot.com/2012/04/master-list-of-activities-by-age.html
-April 2015 List of Sensory Kits: http://busybagcentral.blogspot.com/2015/04/sensory-kits-20-each.html

Please be aware that these contain small parts that can be a risk for unsupervised small children.  Take time to educate your child on appropriate use to reduce the risk of choking, suffocation or other injury.

Wednesday Why's: reasons why we love Busy Bags...

Reason #333 why we love Busy Bags:

They use everyday products from the home and being able to recycle items into part of the activity.  Plus, if something in the bag breaks or gets lost, I can cheaply fix the activity (unlike with most plastic toys!).

What are the reasons you like Busy Bags? What is your favorite activity for your child related to their age or skill-level?

Corner Tiles = easy signs …Tip Tuesday from a Pinterest project

For ou Tip Tuesday’s post, here is a super cool project I used last weekend! The original idea came from a Pinterest.com project.

:::::::Use a corner tile and write with a dry erase marker = instant signage!::::::

The dry erase marker just wipes right off so the tile can be reused as a sign for any project or display. Plus, unlike paper versions of signs, they won’t droop when they get wet and are easy to change the text.

These looked very sharp and classy at our booth this past weekend.  And it’d be great for use on a buffet for a holiday dinner party or as name plates at dinner.

The corner tiles used were found at Home Depot for less than $2 each in the regular tile section. And the marker, in any office supply section of a store.

P.S. If you need an invite to join Pinterest, just let me know and I’ll send you one!  Feel free to look us up on the site to follow future posts (Busy Bag Central)! 

Busy Bag Central goes public!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to host a vendor booth at a local kids consignment sale! It was a great opportunity to chat with other moms about what interests their preschoolers.

The Busy Bags were displayed for sale and the most popular item was the Alphabet Match-up bag. As always, just $3 per bag.

We also had products by a friend who makes/sells the gorgeous flower clips – great for hair or hats or bags, etc.  A few clips were showcased on an uber-cute hat, handmade by Stiches By Sarah (who makes unique, handmade knits). She’s also on Facebook with lots of photos of her products available for purchase!

And the last item offered was our BRAND NEW Busy Bag Kits!!  I’ve had so many requests for a kit that would offer multiple learning activities centered around one theme!  These are inspired by some of the basic learning skills that are key for all kiddos ~ sorting, counting, stringing and more. Plus they have a great theme that allows the preschooler to learn in a way that’s great for their individual interests.

These are available for $25 each plus $5 s/h. A list of all kits available will be posted in another day or so. 
Insider tip: We’ll have a giveaway for one kit to a lucky Facebook fan!  So go on over to Facebook to “Like” us and watch out for the post on the blog and Facebook later this week!

Master List of Activities by Age

List of Busy Bags by Age

Here are the current ideas listed on www.BusyBagCentral.blogspot.com with a focus on what is appropriate for each age.

VIEW IT!
Feel free to click on the title of each activity and it will take you to the original post showing a description with details.

Be Safe.
Note that this is based upon my own opinion and experience with preschoolers. All children are different – some 2 year olds learn by putting things in their mouth while other 2 year olds are very trustworthy. Also, some second-born or third-born kids are exposed early-on to smaller objects and have a quicker understanding of appropriate use. For the notes given below, please evaluate the activity ideas with your individual preschooler in-mind!


Basic Toddler Bags:
(2 year olds to 4 year olds – as well as some mature 18 month olds)
Alphabet Match-up
Letter Match-up (details in new post coming)
Match Me Cards
Big & Little sort (details in new post coming)
Color sort (details in new post coming)
Animal sort (details in new post coming)
Lacing (details in new post coming)

Beginner Bags:
(3 year olds to 5 year olds – and for mature 2.5 year olds)
Snip-A-Chip
Sensory Kits (details in new post coming)
Clothes Line (details in new post coming)
Rainbow Bright
Classy Colors
Pop the Popsicle
The 3 P’s
Mr. Push It

Advanced Bags:
(4 year olds up to 6 year olds)
Twist-Ties
Pop the Popsicle (using the harder words on the sticks)
Toothpick Trace
…more coming soon!

Please be aware that these contain small parts that can be a risk for unsupervised small children. Take time to educate your child on appropriate use to reduce the risk of choking, suffocation or other injury.

Movin’ Mondays – Colored Ice Cubes

A fun activity idea for our Monday morning post is about colored ice cubes!  I came across a preschooler activity last fall called Ice Boats (will post later) in which you fill an ice cube tray with water and let the toddler color the water and then add a stick to make a boat.  My boys LOVED the activity and we’ve made a few fun versions of the game.

Coloring the water can be done with a variety of mediums…here are some we have tried:
1. Food coloring – Have the adult drop food coloring into the water and let the child mix! After frozen, drop into a bowl of warm water to watch colors swirl as they melt.

2. Sprinkles – These usually dissolve in water and it’s fun to watch what colors come off of each sprinkle! After frozen, drop into a bowl of warm water or they can be added to a drink!
We have a few sprinkles leftover from Christmas that are green trees and red dots as well as some of the typical multi-colored balls.  The balls never fully dissolved and made the water sort of brown while the Christmas ones floated so this discovery lead to some good communication about color mixing and sinking/floating.

3. Kool aid – Pre-mix in a pitcher so you don’t get liquid on the counters which may stain.  We have a Pampered Chef large pitcher with built-in sifter to mix the liquid so my little preschoolers like to take turns with the mixing!  After frozen, you can put in a bowl of water or, for a special treat, add these to a cup of water or Sprite!

As shown in the photo, we mixed three different packets of koolaid with water; one at a time.  We only used about 1/3 of the water that the directions call for and then poured into a few slots in the ice cube tray.  Two of the packets were the same color just different shades (berry and pink lemonade) so we added a little bit of our blue mix to make purple.  It turned into a fun science lesson and, once frozen, will turn into a fun drink with our soda!

What’s your "Moving” activity to start the week?