Have you ever heard of toddler “Busy Bags?” I had not heard of these awesome bags that help toddlers keep busy. So many fun ideas! I especially loved that a lot of these creations could be items from the dollar store. All of the above ideas help with hand/eye coordination and fine motor skills. They help your little one learn counting, sorting, and colors.
So let’s break it down by each busy bag. I will explain what I used and where I got the materials.
Paint chips matching: The paint chips came from Home Depot or Lowes. The best part is they are free. I found the best chips are single colors with little or no writing on the front. Get as many color chips as you wish to make. I used my color print to print to word of each color and then broke the word up between 2 cards so they could be matched. I also got clothes pins from the dollar store. I used my hot glue gun and cut a small piece of the color chip. You then hot glue that small piece of color chip onto the clothes pin. Your toddler can pinch the clothes pin to match it to the correct color chip.
Egg carton with pom pom’s: You can use any type of used egg carton for this project. I bought the pom pom’s from the dollar store. I used my hot glue gun to glue 1 colored pom pom to the bottom of the egg carton section. Your toddler would want to match up the right color for each section in the egg carton. I found that about 5 pom pom’s fit in each section.
Bracelet line with beads: I bought the plastic bracelet string and the beads both at the dollar store. I simply tied a knot around several strands of string. I used a snack size plastic bag to hold all the beads. Your toddler would want to thread each bead on the line over and over again until it was full.
Snack canister with pipe cleaners: I reused a clean canister of toddler puffs. I covered it in some fabric I had left over from another craft. You need to cut a small hole in the plastic lid of the canister. I bought the pipe cleaners in assorted colors from the dollar store. I cut the pipe cleaners to a length that fits into the canister. Your toddler would want to take the various cut pieces of pipe cleaner and put it into the small hole in the lid of the canister.
Poster tube with colored squares: We used an old poster tube cut into several pieces. I used a fun decorative duct tape around the edges and the bottom. I used my color printer to print out the color words. I glued each color words onto each tube. I bought the small colored squares from the dollar store. Your toddler would want to put the correct color square into each tube.
Have fun and be creative to make your own set of toddler busy bags.