Busy Boxes (Part 2)

This week both boys were pretty under the weather, which made for a long "vacation" week here at home. Both kiddos are such high energy guys, that sometimes one of our biggest struggles when they are sick is how to entertain them without a lot of movement and "on-the-go" play.

It seemed like the perfect time to create some new busy boxes for Big Brother. He was able to use them first when he was feeling sick, and needing some new quiet activities, and also later in the week when Little Brother was the one who was feeling more under the weather and needing more of Mama's attention.

This round of box ideas are probably best suited for preschool aged kiddos. As always, I tried to use materials we have around the house.

Busy Box Ideas 

Weaving Busy Box: cardboard cereal box cut into smaller pieces (about 5 x 7 inches). I used an exacto knife to cut straight slits down the cardboard about 1 inch apart. I added ribbon scraps for weaving.

Initial Sounds Busy Box: Big Brother has recently taken his interest in letters further by trying to understand the sounds they make and how words are spelled. So although this box might be more geared towards older pre-readers, right now it's right up his alley and became his weekly favorite. To create it I cut card stock into small strips and attached different stickers we had around the house. On the back of the card I wrote the word out. I used miniature clothespins and wrote each letter of the alphabet onto each one. To do the activity, Big Brother looks at the picture and says the word. He then tries to figure out the letter that makes that sound. After he finds the clothespin he flips the card over and if he's correct he clips it to the card.

Number Pom Pom Match: I originally saw this as a Busy Bag activity on Pinterest in a post on a busy bag exchange at Second Story Window. We used it as a busy bag for a while, but moved it into a box this week. Kiddos match the number on top to the number of dots on the bottom. They fill the matched egg with the correct number of pom poms. 

Straw Building: Using pipe cleaners and cut straws kiddos can create either flat shapes or three-dimensional buildings. (Insert part of a pipe cleaner into one end of the straw and attach another straw on the opposite end of the pipe cleaner.) Big Brother and I did this one the first time together and we created everything from triangles to a house. 

I'm always looking for other fun busy box (or bag ideas). Follow our Busy Bags & Boxes Pinterest Board for other ideas we collect. 

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