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)

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!

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.

Match Me Cards busy bag

This preschooler activity is developed off of a similar activity suggested by the Parents As Teachers program.  The concept is to have the tot match like-items and use the colors and shapes as a tool for communication.  Our Parent Educator suggested the use of a file folder with pictures of the images taped to the inside of the folder. Then the toddler holds an object and attempts to match the shape by placing the item on-top of the image (i.e. place a round koosh-ball on-top of the flat circle shape on the folder).

This game was modified so that it all fit into a baggie...a file folder is just too big for most bags. I just love the fact that all these busy bags we've done so far are neatly contained in zippered baggies that can all be packed away into our Busy Bag Box (more on that - click here).  Each of our activities fit into their own quart-sized baggies except for one activity that requires a gallon-sized baggie -- the Alphabet Match Up Busy Bag (more on that - click here).

For activity bag creation of these Match Me Cards, we used several colored index cards as well as a variety of matching items.  Most items are relatively flat so the cards will stack well and be easy to handle for little fingers. Our activity includes 12 cards that have six 'boyish' cards using foam vehicle shapes and six cards that have a variety of jewels that are considered ‘girly’ per comments made by my 4-year-old son. Use of both items was intentional because I want my boys to be exposed to a lot of crafty items, even if they are girly. *wink*

Truly, this bag could be tailored to girls or boys and the 'match up' items can be anything from buttons to pasta or whatever is on-hand. Plus it can be tailored for any age by offering one item to match for 1 – 2 year olds or offering a pattern of items for 3 – 5 year olds.

There are a host of ways to play this game also.  You can simply ask the child to find the match.  If they have good motor control, you can also ask that they lay the matching piece so it mirrors the permanent item or even have them place the match on-top!

For more photos, go to the Facebook page under "BusyBagCentral" and be sure to "Like' us so you can get in on the fan-only giveaways!  Orders can be taken on Facebook or by emailing from the blog.

Alphabet Match-up busy bag

This activity is pretty straight forward – give the alphabet sheet to the child then the letters and let them match up.  But there are actually several ways to play!

To start, we usually dump this bag onto a cookie sheet since the letters are magnetic and will stay on the page better with the metal sheet underneath. Then let the child match the magnet letters to those on the paper.  Another way to encourage color recognition is to have the child place all the yellow letters first, for example.  Or you can work on letter recognition and ask them to only place the letters in their name.

This is a favorite busy bag because of how quick it is to clean up! Once done, swipe into the bag and close shut!  Ta-da! Maybe that’s why I love these bags so much...or maybe because the bags fold down so small (making me feel like there is somehow more space in my small house *wink*); or maybe because it’s a tool to learn and doesn’t include electronics; or whatever the reason, I just enjoy these activities just as much as my kiddos do!

The criteria for all Busy Bags includes the following:
> non-messy and/or quick clean up
>totally independent in use
>reusable products
>and interesting enough to last 15-30 minutes


For more photos, go to the Facebook page under "BusyBagCentral" and be sure to "Like" us so you can get in on the fan-only giveaways! Orders can be taken on Facebook or by emailing from the blog.

Bean Counter busy bag

According to our Parent Educator with the Parents As Teachers program, many of the children entering Kindergarten can count 1 to 10 but, if you put 5 items in-front of them, they don’t know how to count them….meaning that they don’t realize that numbers are associated with quantities of items.  She said that parents do a good job of helping them learn the sequence of numbers but it’s also VERY important to actually have the child count out items when memorizing their numbers.  Association and visual counting is just as important as is knowing which number comes next!

One of the easiest ways to help a preschooler learn to visually count is by providing objects for the user to see and touch when practicing their counting.  This busy bag, called Bean Counter, is a fun tool to grow this skill.

The bag contains a large handful of dry beans and a stack of 10 index cards; each with one number on the front and coordinating number of stickers on the back. 

Upon opening this bag for my 2-year-old for the first time, I instructed him to use one card at a time and place the beans on each sticker as he counted aloud, then announce when completed.  Well, that smart cookie realized the numbers were also stickers -- right after I gave him the #1, he announced he was done! I look over to see that he’s placed a bean on the actual number….funny kid.  At least he did follow directions!
We then reviewed what he was ‘supposed to do’ and the bean counting took a bit longer this time. :)  He had a lot of fun inspecting the stickers on each card because each set was different.  Plus the cards with higher numbers had smaller stickers and he spent a lot of time just looking at everything before placing beans. 
My 4-year-old jumped in to ‘help’ and he showed more interest in completing the cards in order than focusing on the actual stickers….I guess the activity interest will vary a lot from child to child as well as with each use. 
I’m not a big fan of using flashcards because I’m not diligent enough to present them regularly but….this activity is fun because it’s self-correcting and is self-led play.

For more photos, go to the Facebook page under "BusyBagCentral" and be sure to "Like" us so you can get in on the fan-only giveaways! Orders can be taken on Facebook or by emailing from the blog.

The 3 P’s busy bag – Pinchers, Pom poms, Paper clips

The use of clothing pins or plastic tweezers (or for this bag, called “Pinchers”)….oooh, it’s such a fun item.  At least according to my 2-yr old.  He actually hasn’t said that per say; but once he finds the pinchers, he carries them all over the house and tries to use them on a variety of items.  So I think it’s safe to say that he enjoys using them.  And really, the hand motion of ‘pinching’ isn’t a skill used with many toys; at least not with toys like we have such as tractors and trains.

This busy bag contains a variety of pom poms and paper clips to be picked up and dropped into ____fill in the blank___ and is great for growth of finger dexterity and hand-eye coordination.  Plus the pom poms are just fun to play with!  The large pom poms measure over 1 inch wide down to much smaller pom poms.  And the paper clips are standard and jumbo sizes. Obviously the balls are easier to pickup with the pinchers than the paper clips but I’ve noticed that it’s a good combo -- one item may get frustrating for tiny fingers so they’ll resort to the easier items but will regularly go back to the harder to grasp items…all the while building skills.

We’ve used a variety of ‘trays’ for the items to be placed into.  Ice cube trays work nicely for the pom poms or jars or plastic tubs or glass cups.  We found also that this became a more time consuming task if the tray had more compartments because my little preschoolers wanted to fill all the ‘holes’ (versus 3 cups).  But I know this will be a repeat hit because of those silly little pinchers!

For more photos, go to the Facebook page under "BusyBagCentral" and be sure to "Like" us so you can get in on the fan-only giveaways! Orders can be taken on Facebook or by emailing from the blog.

Snip-A-Chip busy bag

This activity is so simple yet so varied in play and great for a variety of age levels!!!
The photo above is an up-close shot of the paint chips with different products holding each 'color swatch' together. Included in the activity bag is one O-ring, one pipe cleaner and two ribbons. The child can string the paint chips (with hole in top corner) on any of the tools that they would like.

For this activity, there are many ways to play. For the non-reader child, the adult can ask them to select their favorite colors and string on a tool. For those who know their letters, the adult can ask the child to look at the titles of the paint chips and find the letters in their name or each letter of the alphabet and so on.

When I presented this bag, both my 4-yr old and 2-yr old were drawn to this activity that I just let them free play which lasted 20 minutes of just exploring each item and how they fit on the different tools! And this bag is so easy to tailor to your child’s color interests as well!!

For more photos, go to the Facebook page under "BusyBagCentral" and be sure to "Like" us so you can get in on the fan-only giveaways! Orders can be taken on Facebook or by emailing from the blog.

Straw Beads busy bag

With a house full of boys, pony beads or any type of bead for that matter is a rare commodity.  My three boys are never given crafts or beads as gifts. (I do have a basketful of tractors though!) I know the act of ‘stringing’ is a good life-skill so this activity is a perfect solution to our bead-less home dilemma!

About a year ago, I found a bag of my old beads that were collected from broken necklaces and bracelets so I pulled them out for my (at the time) 3-yr old and 1-yr old to try stringing.  For the regular little holes in the beads, yarn was too thick and thread was too wimpy.  We ended up using ‘plastic string’ which did work but wasn’t a good solution when it came to a finished product.  After watching the boys try to string the beads, I saw how hard this skill really is!  There is SO much to learn in life!

For this busy bag, I had my 2-yr old help me cut the straws with scissors (and I was on edge the whole time since it was his first cutting lesson!!).  The straws were a very good medium to learn to cut with because it was instant gratification – you snip and ‘pop’ goes the piece of straw.  Unlike when learning to cut with paper, the scissors just slip through and it can be hard to see what has been done. 

The pieces of straw become the ‘beads’ and this bag includes two pipe cleaners as well as two 12” hemp cords/string that will allow for different ages to use tools their little hands can handle best.

For more photos, go to the Facebook page under "BusyBagCentral" and be sure to "Like" us so you can get in on the fan-only giveaways! Orders can be taken on Facebook or by emailing from the blog.

Rainbow Bright busy bag

This is one of my favorite bags so far!  My 2 year old has impressed me greatly when playing with this bag.  I didn’t realize he knew so many of the colors; for example, he was enticed by the bright pieces the first time I pulled it out and he quickly picked up a red jewel saying “ooh, red” and then placed it on the red felt swatch….all without me instructing him what to do! 

We played with this again today and he was very excited to match all the items with their colors.  It took a bit of encouraging to cleanup after playing since he was so proud of his work and didn’t want to put it away.  And we learned that it was probably better to dump the bag onto a cookie sheet before starting since the beads tend to roll around and need to be contained during play.

My 4-yr old also enjoys this activity. He already knows his colors so the joy of this bag comes more from inspecting each item and placing them in different orders on the color swatches.

This bag includes 8 different colors of felt, sized 4" by 2", and has 3-5 coordinating items per color. As with all other bags from Busy Bag Central (if you decide to order!), the activity is contained in the usual zippered-top plastic bag....zippered top is important because little fingers can easily manipulate it for opening and for cleaning up by themself. *wink*

It also folds down very small so it's perfect to pack away into our Busy Bag Box of activities or even in a diaper bag if we need a project when out 'n' about. The felt is a good medium for the items to sit ontop because it somewhat grabs the gems and also lets the beads 'sit' instead of roll like they would on paper.

For more photos, go to the Facebook page under "BusyBagCentral" and be sure to "Like" us so you can get in on the fan-only giveaways! Orders can be taken on Facebook or by emailing from the blog.