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.)

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.

• Car Ride Activities Set 1
• Car Ride Activities Set 2
• Car Ride Activities Set 3
• Car Ride Activities Set 4
• Car Ride Activities Set 5
• Car Ride Activities Set 7
• Busy Bags Revisited

Car Ride Activities Set 5

Yes, I'm perfectly aware that this is the third post in a row of busy bags appropriate for car rides. This blog reflects my life and right now prepping for my upcoming trip is my life. I am constitutionally incapable of doing anything in half measures. I am somewhat completely obsessively determined to have two activities per hour of the car ride (one for each child and then they switch). I'm anticipating 24 hours in the car. 24x2=...48. Sometimes being slightly OCD comes in handy. Sometimes not so much. Tune in after the trip to see which category this obsession falls into. If you're interested, see the Car Ride Activities Set 3 and Car Ride Activities Set 4. In order to avoid having to do about 10 consecutive posts like this I'm going to start covering 10 busy bag ideas per post instead of just five.

Car Ride Activities Set 5

Busy Bag 11: Home for a Spider

I cut and circle and then cut notches around the circumference of the circle. Then I painted the circle black and taped one end of a long string to the center back of the circle. I also made a spider out of pipe cleaners. The kids will wrap the string around the circle to make a spider web for the spider. You could also make a white circle and use light blue yarn to make a snowflake for a different theme. Or you could do any color combination and it would still be a beautiful non-thematic project. Older children can focus on weaving patterns to make a variety of interesting results. Younger children will weave randomly resulting in a more spiderweb like creation. Insipiration here.

Busy Bag 12: Golf Tee Marble Balancing

I enlisted my husband's help with a single polite request (or perhaps a little begging and pleading) for this one. He cut some pieces of wood and drilled holes in them for me. We did two different shapes for variety, but I wanted one as a 3x3 grid so that in future years the children can play tic-tac-toe with them. Then just stick the drilled wood pieces in a bag with some golf tees and marbles. The idea is for the children to insert the golf tees in the holes (great fine motor activity with color identification and pattern making potential) and then try to balance marbles on top of the golf tees. Insipiration here and here. For a slightly different version using a foam block instead of wood blocks here.

Busy Bag 13: Color Tint Clothespin Match

Grab a few paint samples like these. Trim a strip down the edge of the samples the width of your clothespins. Then tape or glue those small colored strips onto the edge of the clothespins. That's it. You're done. Stick them in a bag (unattached) and the children have to match and attach the clothespins to the appropriate spots on the paint sample strips. This task works on a more complex version of color identification and strengthens fine motor skills. Insipiration here.

Busy Bag 14: Magnetic Paper Clip Sort

I found adhesive backed magnetic strips at our local big box store for less than a dollar. I stuck one strip to each of four jumbo sized popsicle sticks and then colored around the magnet strips with sharpies to match the four colors of paper clips I happened to have. Done. The children will sort the paper clips by color and attach them to the color coordinated stick via the magnetic strip. Insipiration here. For a slightly different version without magnets here.

Busy Bag 15: Felt Picture - Rainbow

I just sat down with my felt stash and cut the basic component shapes out along with a black square background. The pieces will be separate in the bag and the children will have to assemble the picture almost like a puzzle. Insipiration here.

Busy Bag 16: Felt Fraction Circles

To continue the theme of puzzle like activities with felt, next I made some simple fraction circles from felt. I just cut them out and used a sharpie to write on the fractions. The activity is really just about assembling the four circles. They might do some role playing pretending it is pie, but we'll have to wait and see. Insipiration here.

Busy Bag 17: Treasure Chest Jewel Sort

I took a small case that Ava's hair bands came in and dumped all the hair bands out. Then I found some jewels from our craft stash and sorted out six colors of all five shapes. I could wish the craft jewels had come in six shapes, but not everything can be perfect. That's it. I'm tossing the jewels and the box in the bag and the task is to sort the treasure into the individual sections of the treasure chest by either color or shape. If I had an endless supply of time and energy, I would decorate the case to make it look more like a treasure chest, but they can just use their imagination. This activity is great for fine motor skills, color and shape identification, sorting, and possibly even patterning. I was inspired by my own eyes wandering over my craft shelf.

Busy Bag 18: Button Sorting and Lacing

A while back, while making a craft/art supply order I saw this bag of buttons and wanted them. I had the vague idea they might make a nice collage material. I haven't touched them since. The bag was still unopened. I opened up the bag and sorted out a bunch with holes large enough for some plastic lacing string I bought when I was making busy book pages. Then I tossed the buttons and the laces into a bag for a button sorting and lacing activity. I was inspired by my own eyes wandering over my craft shelf.

Busy Bag 19: Nuts and Bolts Play

This one is pretty simple and yet the kids seem to love it. Just stick a few long bolts and matching nuts and washers in a bag. They screw them on and take them back off. They try to see how many nuts will fit on one bolt. They can make a pattern (one washer, one nut, one washe, one nut). Insipiration here.

Busy Bag 20: Simple Front-Back Puzzles

I found some great free printable animal flashcards. I printed them, cut them out, and laid them out on some cardstock and traces squares around them. Then I cut them in half and glued half of the picture onto the cardstock squares. The other half of the flashcards are the puzzle pieces. Insipiration here.

If you like these activities, you may be interested in more.

• Car Ride Activities Set 1
• Car Ride Activities Set 2
• Car Ride Activities Set 3
• Car Ride Activities Set 4
• Car Ride Activities Set 6
• Car Ride Activities Set 7
• Busy Bags Revisited

Car Ride Activities Set 4

And here are the next five activities I've prepared for the car ride. See the Car Ride Activities Set 3.

Car Ride Activities Set 4

Busy Bag 6: I'm the Ice Cream Man

Cut matching felt ice cream bars in several colors and sew around three sides leaving the bottoms open. Write the colors on the bottom of jumbo popsicle sticks. I also cut green rectangles for money. I imagine the children playing the game together. One child plays the customer and holds the money while the other plays the Ice Cream Man and holds the ice cream. The customer requests a specific flavor (color) of ice cream. The Ice Cream Man assembles the ice cream by matching the ice cream bar with the corresponding stick and handing it to the customer in exchange for some money. Then they can switch roles.

Busy Bag 7: Simple Fleece Marble Mazes

Cut two rectangles of fleece and sew them together leaving a small hole to flip inside out and then insert the marble. Then sew in lines through both layers to make maze. I found the tutorial for making a simple marble maze here. For more complex marble mazes look here. To make a marble maze with a slightly streamlined production look here.

Busy Bag 8: Color Wheel Clothespin Match

I printed a simple color wheel I found online and cut it out and glued it onto a cardboard circle of the same size to make it more sturdy. Then I took sharpies to wooden clothespins and made matching labeled colored clothespins. The task is to match and attach the clothespins to the appropriate sections of the color wheel. This activity addresses color identification, matching, and fine motor skills.

Busy Bag 9: Square Tile Patterns and Play

I actually made this square tile pattern activity a while back. I just pulled it off the shelf and stuck a few patterns and a third of the tiles into one of the travel busy bags. You can get the square tiles on Amazon or at most teacher supply stores. My kids also use these in free play to build towers and roads and to create block like pictures.

Busy Bag 10: Toothpick Pattern Punch

Print a few shapes with dotted lines (or just freehand draw some, or trace some simple stencils) onto regular weight paper. Put those and a few toothpicks into a bag. Our travel trays are felt lined, so that's all we need, but if your child will be working on a hard surface, include a piece of felt or small washcloth. They put the paper shape over the cloth and punch holes along the outline. Then they can hold the completed punched pattern up to the car window or towards a light fixture to see their pattern light up. This is a great fine motor activity.

(Inspiration found: here, here, and here.)

If you like these activities, you may be interested in more.

• Car Ride Activities Set 1
• Car Ride Activities Set 2
• Car Ride Activities Set 3
• Car Ride Activities Set 5
• Car Ride Activities Set 6
• Car Ride Activities Set 7
• Busy Bags Revisited