Homebound Activities: Busy Bags

While this is not something to do in the house itself per se with your child this is something I do for the kids when we are out doing errands. What are busy bags? I have two totes … I ordered two reusable bags off Shutterfly with each kids pictures on them then filled them with things that are easy for on-the-go. I pack things in themes and I try to hit on the following:

• Building options
• 3-4 sensory options
• Drawing ( a notebook with markers/ colored pencils/ crayons)
• A snuggy
• 2 learning options
• 2-4 books
• A puppet
• An extra pair of socks
• Non-parishable  Snacks

An example right now:

• Legos in a disposable food storage container
• A clown Fish water wiggler
• A sensory Bottle ( homemade)
• A Glitterball with a mermaid floating in it
• A wooden twist and grab crab
• A  Mermaid to-go notepad with crayons attached
• A Sea Turtle TY Pillow Pal
• A piece of cardstock with her name in it laminated with a chalk marker
• A notecard with her name on it and corresponding clothespins with each letter
• Letter Flashcards
• Floatsam by David Weisner
• Commotion in the Ocean ( Thrift store find)
• Ocean by Smithsonian Institute ( Board book birthday gift)
• On the beach :Lift the flap by Alistair Smith ( Christmas Gift)
• Rainbow Fish ( Boardbook
• An Octopus puppet
• An extra pair of socks

You are probably asking yourself why so much? Where did you get all this stuff? This sounds like a lot of money, time and effort. Why the socks and does this really work?

The answers to all of this are just like ourselves kids have moods. I may ask my four year old ... Do you want to read a book? And get in response “ NO! I don’t want to read a book!” then hand her a water wiggler and she’ll be occupied for 25 minutes in the back seat of the car. With that said the same child from Orono to Old Orchard this summer read five books on her way to Waterville ( our break point) and was asking for MORE reading materials.

The stuff we have in the bags  were all found on our bookshelves/ bins, playroom, stuffy net and toy boxes. A lot of which was what I consider “forgotten toys”. When isolated and put into a bag that is only used for outings makes the chosen toys “new” and “interesting” again.
I bring these bags to doctors offices, dentist appointments, Grammy and Grampy’s house, restaurants and for car rides. Since I am a working Mom who works days, frequently we go to restaurants on weeknights for playdates to avoid the clean-up at either house and easy meals for both. These bags are playdates to-go and it keeps everyone entertained and happy.

My inspiration for these were bags that we made in my undergraduate degree to send home with kiddos with themes and educational goals for each bag. That idea mixed with working within the “zones of regulation” prompting me to include sensory choices for each child. I have made developmental goals for each kiddo and work those into my busy bags. For instance, my 17 month old for of his goals is to make a block tower stacking three or more blocks. So I fill a ziplock to go with 8 blocks and send put it in his bag. For my daughter we are working on her name and letter identification which is really peaking her interest at the moment.

The real trick to these bags are to keep them novel if they have access to them daily or are able to pillage them in the house they are rendered useless when the time comes to use them. I am going to throw Billy under the bus on this, frequently bring the bags in the house and I will find the kids busy bags raided spread across my living room. I made the mistake of attempting to teach my husband a “lesson” by  just returning them to the bag and putting them in the car only once. Lets just say this resulted in children in the backseat of a car kicking and scream on the way to Camden. Completely insatiable for an hour and a half on the road and me proving my point. This is a lesson my husband had to learn the hard way.

There is also an art to rotating them on a monthly basis.I find we go on long trips every other weekend and have appointments, visit grandparents , have playdates and go out to eat at least 15 out of 30 days. As an adult I would tire of the same things day-in and day-out, therefore I change it up. With this said, I am the type of person who enjoys putting these things together.
However, for those of you who only want to make a few bag combos -- keep assembled and set aside for a few months down the road.In the summer sometimes we carry an extra bathing suite and swim toys.

As for the socks there is a funny story behind the socks; Billy likes to bring the kids to the playplace and playland adventure, his pet peeve is parents who let their kids jump without socks on. So he makes a point to always have an extra pair of socks …  just incase.