Button Snake Busy Bag -- ideas for sorting sizes "big vs little"

Button Snake for big vs. little sorting

Now that our youngest is almost two, he's ready to start working on life skills that Busy Bags can teach. The first time I heard of a Button Snake, I thought it was such a simple concept. After making one, I handed it to my son to play with it but he just stared at me....like "And what do I do now?"  Here's the original post from 2012 where I realized that learning to thread a button can be hard and require practice; jsut as learning how to use a spoon, how to put on a shirt, and how to brush your teeth!

The basic instructions are: Provide the child with the materials and let them practice threading the felt shapes on and off of the ribbon “snake”.

For really young users or beginners, it may be helpful for them to see what the finished goal looks like. Plus you may have to work with them to teach how to actually push in and pull through with each felt piece.

There are lots of different button snakes you can create. For our toddler to work on learning "big" versus "little", I came up with a series of larger shapes and smaller shapes to be threaded on two different lengths of ribbon. Plus I also like our version since there are buttons on each end. When I made the first snake with just one button and left a 'tail' (= just the end of the ribbon), my toddler kept pushing on the felt shape and then pulling right off the other end so we never got them put on altogether. With a button on each end, specifically a larger button, it helps the toddler know to put on and leave until ready to practice un-buttoning!

Button Snake Busy Bags are available for order as well all other busy bags on the Master List...just email with interest!

For different versions, ideas can be found on my Pinterest page "BusyBagCentral" or by clicking directly on the following links:

Sorting shapes by colors or by pattern! Found at - www.memorizingthemoments.com

Layering food! Found at - therapyfunzone.net

Neat version without the ribbon and just using crazy straws! Found at - www.powerfulmothering.com