Busy Bag Ideas

Something I've seen all over lately is "Busy Bags". In case you haven't seen them, I'll tell you a little about them. You put together little activities for your kiddo(s) and place each of them in a bag for when you need to keep them busy (I'm using one of the bags to keep my little guy busy while I write this post). I kind of had a few things thrown in some Ziplocs, but I decided to organize them a little better. 

There are all kinds of ideas out there for the bags and how to store them, but I just went simple. I used gallon size Ziplocs and labeled them with shipping labels.

I used a bin I found in the Target dollar spot to hold them all. Simple and easy. 

Here's what I have in my bags:

• Stickers: I put several sets of stickers and some paper, so my little guy can have fun putting the stickers on the paper. Doesn't sound too exciting, but trust me, it will entertain a 2 year old for a while. :-)
• Playing Cards: I bought some Cars playing cards at the dollar store. My little guy likes looking at all the different cards, lining up the cards, throwing the cards, etc. 
• I fit the Marble Track I made in one of the bags.
• Special: I made a bag for special little activities I've found in the Dollar Spot like a paper mask with markers to color it. I'll keep refilling this bag as I find new things.
• Play Clay: This is definitely an activity that I don't want him to have access to without me knowing it, so I put his play clay and play clay cutters in a bag.
• Coloring: A coloring book and crayons occupy another bag.
• Dry Erase and Chalk: We found a Cars mini dry erase board and mini chalk board for my little guy's birthday, so I've got those in another bag.
• Although it wouldn't fit in the bin, I also have the Busy Book with all the Busy bags.

This is just what I was able to throw together the other night, but I've seen some other ideas that I'd like to make and add to my busy bags. Here are some of the ideas I've seen.

• Felt Board: Did you ever have a Sunday School teacher use those felt storyboards? Number 3 on this list is the same concept, but you make your own shapes. It looks like a lot of fun and could be made to fit in a busy bag.
• I Spy Bottle: I've seen these "I Spy" bags all over, but here's an idea of using a water bottle instead of a bag.
• Color Matching Activity: Although this particular idea wouldn't fit in a bag, but I'm going to try to find something along these lines that will fit in a bag. I may even make something. We'll see. :-)
• Felt Letters: These would fit nicely into a bag.
• Paper Toys: There are lots of good ideas on this blog for making your own toys. I also bought his book and would highly recommend it.

Want more ideas? Check out my "Keep 'Em Busy" board on Pinterest for busy bag and activity ideas. There are lots of good ideas out there!

I'm having a blast at these lovely linking parties.