Activity Bag Swapping

It has sure been a fun time here.  I signed up for a long distance Activity Bag swap for preschool age kids.  The swap is being coordinated by another Momma on the message board for the Activity Bags website.  The one that I was assigned to make was a dry-erase activity to teach the writing of letters and numbers.  I made 10 of the activity bags and once they coordinator swaps them all out and mails them back, I will have 10 different preschool level activities.  On a facebook group, I am signed up to participate in a one-to-one swap for something similar.  Activity bags are based on the e-books that the website sells.  They are also known as "Busy Bags" which is a generic term for the same thing, but made using any activity that would teach or reinforce a skill.

These bags are a great way to reinforce skills.  Some of them are just plain fun too!  One that I am looking forward to making is the "Find & Seek" bottle.  You add to a clean, dry 20 ounce bottle about 20-30 small objects such as decorative beads, buttons, charms, decorative erasers, or any tiny toy like you may find at a dollar store.  Then fill the bottle 3/4 full with colored tiny beads, multi colored fish tank gravel, rice, or other small filler.  Shake the bottle well to distribute the objects into the filler.  The child then gets to turn the bottle and try to find each of the items you put in.  A really fun bottle project would be to make themed ones such as alphabets, animals, shapes, buttons, etc.  If you child loves dinosaurs, find small dinosaurs to add to a bottle.  The idea is to make it something that your child would enjoy going to again and again.  You can use any type of clear plastic bottle.  Some single serving juice bottles have a wider opening at the kid and can handle larger objects being added.  Use a good adhesive to glue the lid on so that a curious child cannot twist off the lid, spilling out the contents. 

With summer vacation approaching in a few months, it may be fun to put together some busy bags for car trips.  Though in thinking about it, these would be fun for any trip away from home with little ones who need to be entertained.