Thursday, August 2, 2012
We're off to see the family...
Well, we're off. As you read this imagine me in a minivan for 12+ hours with my mother and two preschool aged children and send good thoughts my way. I'll be taking a blogging hiatus for the next week or so, but I will be back late next week. Have a wonderful week and good luck to all of you that are preparing for the new school year that begins in a couple of weeks.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Car Ride Activities Set 7
I sure hope someone is planning a trip with young children in the next few months and finds all these travel activity posts (Set 1, Set 2, Set 3, Set 4, Set 5, Set 6) useful! For the rest of you, I would like to point out that many of these activities could easily be integrated into therapy sessions or simply used as craft projects or activities around the house.
Kids love to make noise and I was looking to add a little of variety to my busy bag stash. This activity is only appropriate in an environment where noise isn't going to bother anyone. I took some small plastic boxes from an organization tray and used them to make two sizes of drums by stretching balloons over the tops and holding them in place with rubber bands and tape. I provided a popsicle stick to use as a drumstick. One drum is higher in tone than the other. I took a third box and stretched rubber bands around it for plucking out notes (one high and one low). Then I made two shakers by putting taping beads between two bottle caps and beans between two other bottle caps (one sounds high and the other low) and decorating the caps with sharpies. Finally, I made a homemade kazoo from a tube of cardstock and wax paper (it doesn't work super well, but the kids will like it and it will do well enough). All the instruments are small and lightweight and pack away into a small bag.
Several years ago I found some Automoblox Minis on sale around the holidays and scooped them up. The children played with them for months before they got tired of them and I put them away for a while. Then I forgot about them. I pulled them back out and stuck them in a bag along with some black strips of felt to use as roads. These cars are great because they disassemble like 3D puzzles and can be put back together interchangeably. Any toy cars paired with some felt roads would work as a busy bag though. If I had more time I'd try to make a small garage of some kind to go along with the kit.
Find something in your house you can stick in a bag for the children to use as a memory game. I pulled some tiles from our Qwirkle Game. You could even make your own memory cards on cardstock by drawing matching shapes or letters on the cards.
Cut out small pieces of plastic needlepoint canvas. Include some tipped lacing yarn and beads and let the children experiment. I tied beads onto one end of the yarn to help get them started. Insipiration here.
I came across a free printable shapes version of the I Have Who Has game for preschoolers. I printed a subset of the cards and stuck it in a bag. The non-driving adult will deal the cards and play the game with the children.
I took popsicle sticks and put small pieces of adhesive magnet strips on each end of both sides of the sticks. I decorated three of the sticks with triangles on one side and four with squares on one side. I left the other side blank for free play. If I hadn't run out of steam I would have done a pentagon set. The children can build the shapes from the sticks, or simple engage in free play with them. Inspiration and variations here and here.
I bought some geoboards for the last car trip and the children love them. I was looking for a way to freshen them up for this trip and I found some patterns. I printed them in flashcard size to give the children some inspiration.
I found some beautiful free printable alphabet flashcards and printed two sets. I think the children will enjoy looking through them and can try to find the matches since I shuffled the sets before I put them in the bag.
This one is fairly self explanatory. I took a mini chalkboard from our Handwriting Without Tears homeschool program and put it in a bag with some chalk and a felt square to use as an eraser.
I took a small Melissa and Doug wooden travel puzzle and put it in a bag for the children.
If you like these activities, you may be interested in more.
Car Ride Activities Set 7
Busy Bag 31: High/Low Homemade Instruments
Kids love to make noise and I was looking to add a little of variety to my busy bag stash. This activity is only appropriate in an environment where noise isn't going to bother anyone. I took some small plastic boxes from an organization tray and used them to make two sizes of drums by stretching balloons over the tops and holding them in place with rubber bands and tape. I provided a popsicle stick to use as a drumstick. One drum is higher in tone than the other. I took a third box and stretched rubber bands around it for plucking out notes (one high and one low). Then I made two shakers by putting taping beads between two bottle caps and beans between two other bottle caps (one sounds high and the other low) and decorating the caps with sharpies. Finally, I made a homemade kazoo from a tube of cardstock and wax paper (it doesn't work super well, but the kids will like it and it will do well enough). All the instruments are small and lightweight and pack away into a small bag.
Busy Bag 32: Mini Automoblox and Felt Roads
Several years ago I found some Automoblox Minis on sale around the holidays and scooped them up. The children played with them for months before they got tired of them and I put them away for a while. Then I forgot about them. I pulled them back out and stuck them in a bag along with some black strips of felt to use as roads. These cars are great because they disassemble like 3D puzzles and can be put back together interchangeably. Any toy cars paired with some felt roads would work as a busy bag though. If I had more time I'd try to make a small garage of some kind to go along with the kit.
Busy Bag 33: Memory Game
Find something in your house you can stick in a bag for the children to use as a memory game. I pulled some tiles from our Qwirkle Game. You could even make your own memory cards on cardstock by drawing matching shapes or letters on the cards.
Busy Bag 34: Preschool Sewing
Cut out small pieces of plastic needlepoint canvas. Include some tipped lacing yarn and beads and let the children experiment. I tied beads onto one end of the yarn to help get them started. Insipiration here.
Busy Bag 35: I Have Who Has Game
I came across a free printable shapes version of the I Have Who Has game for preschoolers. I printed a subset of the cards and stuck it in a bag. The non-driving adult will deal the cards and play the game with the children.
Busy Bag 36: Magnetic Popsicle Stick Shapes
I took popsicle sticks and put small pieces of adhesive magnet strips on each end of both sides of the sticks. I decorated three of the sticks with triangles on one side and four with squares on one side. I left the other side blank for free play. If I hadn't run out of steam I would have done a pentagon set. The children can build the shapes from the sticks, or simple engage in free play with them. Inspiration and variations here and here.
Busy Bag 37: Geoboards with Pattern Ideas
I bought some geoboards for the last car trip and the children love them. I was looking for a way to freshen them up for this trip and I found some patterns. I printed them in flashcard size to give the children some inspiration.
Busy Bag 38: Alphabet Flashcards
I found some beautiful free printable alphabet flashcards and printed two sets. I think the children will enjoy looking through them and can try to find the matches since I shuffled the sets before I put them in the bag.
Busy Bag 39: Mini Chalkboard
This one is fairly self explanatory. I took a mini chalkboard from our Handwriting Without Tears homeschool program and put it in a bag with some chalk and a felt square to use as an eraser.
Busy Bag 40: Small Jigsaw Puzzle
I took a small Melissa and Doug wooden travel puzzle and put it in a bag for the children.
If you like these activities, you may be interested in more.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Car Ride Activities Set 6
As of this morning 30 car travel appropriate busy bags will have been posted and I've finished making a total of 44. I need to fill 4 more to meet my goal. I'll admit, my imagination, resources, and enthusiasm are beginning to run low but I will persevere. Here's the next set of 10 though. Enjoy!
(You can find more ideas in the Car Ride Activities Set 3, Car Ride Activities Set 4, and Car Ride Activities Set 5.)
Wrap pipe cleaners around a wooden dowel to form the base of the wand. Then attach some more at the top. Twist some of the top pipe cleaners into spirals and leave the others straight for the children to decorate with beads. Toss some pony beads into the bag with the magic wands. The children can decorate their wand tips with the beads of their choice and then play with the wand. Insipiration here.
I found some great free downloadable nursery rhyme and preschool song printables. I saved the files and printed them 9 to a page to make flashcards out of them. I'll put them in a bag and let the children look at the pictures and try to figure out which song it is. Then we'll sing the songs as a family in the car. (This site is great! They have the files in color versions for circle times or posting in a classroom and in black in white to use as coloring sheets. They also have supplementary printables to go along with most of the rhymes.)
Find a small shallow box. I used the bottom from a small pizza box. Glue some straws into the box. Draw in a path and a starting and ending point. Of course, no one will examine the picture closely enough to notice that I stuck my stop sign in the wrong spot before having to draw in a second one. Find a marble and let the kids practice getting the marble from start to finish by tilting the box. If I had had several small gift size boxes around I would have made several small marble runs instead of one large one. Check the inspiration link to see several other small examples of this type of activity. Insipiration here.
Cut out an oval "face" and lots of accessories. I tried to make a girl (although she didn't really turn out well), a crazy jester like character and an alien/monster. See the inspirations for much more well done examples of this activity. My only defense is that I cut mine out in about 10 minutes and just used sharpies for details. It was quick which was important to me this time. Insipiration here, here, here, here, and here.
Download and print a pie divided into as many sections as you'd like. I chose one with six sections. Cut out the circle and glue that circle onto a cardboard circle of the same size for added thickness and durability. Then use some stickers to make each section of the pie represent a different number. Write those same numbers on the clothespins and you're ready. The children count the stickers and pin the corresponding clothespin onto that section. Insipiration here.
I'm hoping that sorting bead like items and stringing them onto a variety of stringing options never gets old. This time it is foam beads paired with a lace and some pipe cleaners. These foam beads can be sorted by color or shape and then laced onto either the pipe cleaners or the lace. Inspiration was my own craft supply shelf.
This may be too hard for my three and four year old children but it would be great for older kids and I thought I'd try it. I taped a variety of yarns to a variety of popsicle stick configurations for a yarn wrapping activity. At the simple end is just wrapping the yarn around a single stick. More complex is wrapping yarn around a narrow X shape for a slightly different look. Most complex is weaving the yarn to make a god's eye project. I was inspired by my own eyes wandering over my craft shelf.
Take some sponges and cut them into strips to make great travel "blocks" for log cabin style building. If I had thought about it before I had cut all the sponges into strips I would have made some squares too for variety. These make great travel blocks because they are quiet, light, compact and have some texture to them to reduce sliding around in cars and other moving vehicles. Inspiration found here.
Just toss a couple of small memo books, some cool pens (or pencils or crayons) and some stickers in a bag. I wrote a sweet message to each child in each book to personalize the book for them. They may not be able to read the whole message, but they'll recognize their names and "Mama". Inspired by browsing the back to school aisle.
I had some colored wooden craft sticks in my crafting stash as well. I put a handful of the matchsticks and a piece of felt into a bag. The children can create simple pictures from the sticks or even try to build a tower log cabin style. They could also try to make letters or shapes using the craft sticks.
(Happy 41st Wedding Anniversary to my parents. I love you both!)
If you like these activities, you may be interested in more.
(You can find more ideas in the Car Ride Activities Set 3, Car Ride Activities Set 4, and Car Ride Activities Set 5.)
Car Ride Activities Set 6
Busy Bag 21: Make a Magic Wand Kit
Wrap pipe cleaners around a wooden dowel to form the base of the wand. Then attach some more at the top. Twist some of the top pipe cleaners into spirals and leave the others straight for the children to decorate with beads. Toss some pony beads into the bag with the magic wands. The children can decorate their wand tips with the beads of their choice and then play with the wand. Insipiration here.
Busy Bag 22: Nursery Rhyme and Preschool Song Flashcards
I found some great free downloadable nursery rhyme and preschool song printables. I saved the files and printed them 9 to a page to make flashcards out of them. I'll put them in a bag and let the children look at the pictures and try to figure out which song it is. Then we'll sing the songs as a family in the car. (This site is great! They have the files in color versions for circle times or posting in a classroom and in black in white to use as coloring sheets. They also have supplementary printables to go along with most of the rhymes.)
Busy Bag 23: Simple Marble Run
Find a small shallow box. I used the bottom from a small pizza box. Glue some straws into the box. Draw in a path and a starting and ending point. Of course, no one will examine the picture closely enough to notice that I stuck my stop sign in the wrong spot before having to draw in a second one. Find a marble and let the kids practice getting the marble from start to finish by tilting the box. If I had had several small gift size boxes around I would have made several small marble runs instead of one large one. Check the inspiration link to see several other small examples of this type of activity. Insipiration here.
Busy Bag 24: Felt Faces
Cut out an oval "face" and lots of accessories. I tried to make a girl (although she didn't really turn out well), a crazy jester like character and an alien/monster. See the inspirations for much more well done examples of this activity. My only defense is that I cut mine out in about 10 minutes and just used sharpies for details. It was quick which was important to me this time. Insipiration here, here, here, here, and here.
Busy Bag 25: Number Wheel Clothespin Match
Download and print a pie divided into as many sections as you'd like. I chose one with six sections. Cut out the circle and glue that circle onto a cardboard circle of the same size for added thickness and durability. Then use some stickers to make each section of the pie represent a different number. Write those same numbers on the clothespins and you're ready. The children count the stickers and pin the corresponding clothespin onto that section. Insipiration here.
Busy Bag 26: Foam Beads Sorting and Stringing
I'm hoping that sorting bead like items and stringing them onto a variety of stringing options never gets old. This time it is foam beads paired with a lace and some pipe cleaners. These foam beads can be sorted by color or shape and then laced onto either the pipe cleaners or the lace. Inspiration was my own craft supply shelf.
Busy Bag 27: Yarn Wrapping
This may be too hard for my three and four year old children but it would be great for older kids and I thought I'd try it. I taped a variety of yarns to a variety of popsicle stick configurations for a yarn wrapping activity. At the simple end is just wrapping the yarn around a single stick. More complex is wrapping yarn around a narrow X shape for a slightly different look. Most complex is weaving the yarn to make a god's eye project. I was inspired by my own eyes wandering over my craft shelf.
Busy Bag 28: Sponge Blocks
Take some sponges and cut them into strips to make great travel "blocks" for log cabin style building. If I had thought about it before I had cut all the sponges into strips I would have made some squares too for variety. These make great travel blocks because they are quiet, light, compact and have some texture to them to reduce sliding around in cars and other moving vehicles. Inspiration found here.
Busy Bag 29: Individual Note Pads
Just toss a couple of small memo books, some cool pens (or pencils or crayons) and some stickers in a bag. I wrote a sweet message to each child in each book to personalize the book for them. They may not be able to read the whole message, but they'll recognize their names and "Mama". Inspired by browsing the back to school aisle.
Busy Bag 30: Matchstick Construction
I had some colored wooden craft sticks in my crafting stash as well. I put a handful of the matchsticks and a piece of felt into a bag. The children can create simple pictures from the sticks or even try to build a tower log cabin style. They could also try to make letters or shapes using the craft sticks.
(Happy 41st Wedding Anniversary to my parents. I love you both!)
If you like these activities, you may be interested in more.
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