I’ve been working hard getting things ready to start Mommy School back up for AG this fall. She was originally supposed to start MDO next month but since we’re moving we are going to wait until January. So now, I’m in a mad dash to plan as many units before Luke makes his arrival. We’re going to start with the letters of the alphabet and go from there. The first post will be the first week of September. I hope you’ll join us on this journey. Don’t forget to follow along on IG (Leah.Herring) for weekly ideas for Mommy School.
Something else I have been working on over the past few weeks is getting some activities put together for AG to do when Luke is born. I originally was going to put together nursing boxes but I did a little research and decided that toddler busy bags would be a better idea.
I did a little research to plan the bags I thought would be the most appropriate for a new two year old. Then, I got together with a friend to create the bags. I planned and bought the supplies for half of the bags and she did the other half. This saved on the cost of supplies and it was fun to get together to create them while the kids played. I now have 9 busy bags assembled and ready to go. We’ve already successfully used some when we went out to dinner. I have some others packed for our plane trip this upcoming week and have high hopes for all of them to keep AG busy during nursing sessions. I will definitely keep you posted on how that works out!
Below you’ll find details about the bags we put together.
Button Matching
Materials Needed: Shapes button (found at WalMart), markers and blank note cards.
Directions: I cut a handful of the notecards in half to make little flash cards for single shapes. I wrote the color along with the name and picture of the shape on each card. On a handful of other cards I made a short sequence of shapes. Again, I drew the shape and wrote the color and shape on the cards.
Use: Lay out the shape buttons for your child. From there, allow your child to pick a notecard and match the button to the shapes on the cards.
Button Snake
Materials Needed: 1 button, ribbon, felt pieces, a needle and thread
Directions: Sew the button to one end of the ribbon. My ribbon was about 14 inches long. Cut our 1.5 inch squares of felt. Fold the felt squares in half and make a cut in the center to create a slit big enough for the button to go through.
Use: Your child will thread the button and ribbon through the felt pieces. AG has a little trouble with this one. I usually put the button through and she pulls the felt to the end.
Matching Flash Cards
Materials Needed: Scissors, Flash Cards (found in the dollar bins at Target)
Directions: Cut the flash cards in half a variety of different ways.
Use: The goal is for your child to be able to find the correct matches, identify shapes along with colors. You can also use more detailed flash cards with animals or letters on them. Have your child find the matches to the cards. I kept the groups of cards small for AG. I made groups of 5-6 in a pile.
Lacing Cards
Materials Needed: Laminated pictures, foam shapes, hole punch, shoe lace
Directions: Punch holes along the outside of the picture or foam shape so that your child can string the show lace in and out of the holes.
Use: The goal is for your child to be able to lace the laces through the holes. I love the idea of using shoe laces for these instead of yarn (my friends idea.) AG can’t do these in order but is able to pull the laces in and out of the holes.
Pom Pom Matching
Materials Needed: Primary color pom poms, white label stickers, ice cube tray
Directions: Color the labels to match the color of the pom poms. You may need to cut them to fit inside the tray, but I would color them using sharpies first. Once they’re colored and dry, place them in the ice cube trays. One sticker per tray. From there, you can match the pom poms with the sticker colors or place the pom poms in a separate bag.
Use: The goal is for your child to be able to identify the colors of the pom poms and match them to the sticker colors in the ice cube trays.
Felt Popsicle Color Matching
Materials Needed: various colors of felt, markers, fabric glue, popsicle sticks
Directions: Cut the felt into a popsicle shape. You need to pieces per color. Once they’re cut out, glue the sides of the pieces together. Make sure to leave an opening in the bottom. On the popsicle sticks, write the name of the color on one side and a color dot on the other.
Use: Matching colors along with fine motor skills of placing the popsicle sticks in the felt.
Noodle Lacing
Materials Needed: pasta noodles, shoe laces
Directions: I used noodles I had already colored with rubbing alcohol and food coloring. I made sure to use noodles big enough for the shoe lace to go easily through it.
Use: Have your child thread the laces through the noodles. Older children can use colored noodles to make patterns.
Notebook and Sticker Fun
Materials Needed: Notebook, Stickers, Crayons
Directions: There isn’t much you have to do with this activity. Just throw all of the items in a bag and you’re ready to do.
Use: Your child can use the stickers and crayons to decorate the pages of the notebook. If your child is anything like my daughter, most of the stickers will end up on her legs and arms!
Velcro Sticks
Materials Needed: Colored popsicle sticks, velcro stickers
Directions: Place the velcro stickers on the ends of the popsicle sticks. I made shapes with the sticks first to see how they needed to go together. Making sure the pieces of velcro were on the correct sides of the sticks to create shapes. I made triangles and squares.
Use: Older children can create shapes using the sticks. AG just likes sticking them together and pulling them apart. Either way, a great activity for little hands.
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For the storage of the bags, I bought clear pencil bags from Target.
They’re $1 in the back to school section right now.
The pencil bags makes it easy to take them anywhere in a jiffy, they also don’t take up a lot of space.
LOVE these ideas!! I need some yarn and pasta STAT. I love seeing what you do with AG, as she's a little older so I can prepare things for Brooke a little ways ahead. You're the best!! Happy Monday.
I def need to make a few of these for some upcoming travel we have! Really looking forward to seeing your mommy school plans for the letters. I'm gearing up to start letters and numbers next week!
these are great ideas! I need to make some of these up for Elyse for when Nora arrives…these would be great activities for when I'm nursing Nora!
How did these work out! Which were the favs??
The felt popsicle color matching are cool!