This is a really easy busy bag to assemble and has great bright colours. The sticks can be lined up to create a rainbow or they can be used to make shapes.
To make this as simple as possible, you can buy coloured popsicle sticks, but you can also extend the activity by using plain popsicle sticks and having your child help you paint them. Once dry, you can then create the busy bag.
Materials needed:
- popsicle sticks
- adhesive magnet stip, cut into smaller pieces
- mini cookie sheet or the lid from a tin container
- large resealable bag
- optional: glue to further secure the magnets
To create this busy bag, simply attach magnet pieces to each end of the popsicle sticks. I used the adhesive kind of magnet strip, but I found that I still needed to glue them in place as the adhesive didn’t hold well enough.
Place the now magnetic sticks in a large resealable bag with a mini baking tray or the lid from a tin container. The sticks can now be used to create shapes and patterns. They can also be used as tally marks when counting or playing other games.
They can be used to play on the fridge or any other magnetic surface such as a white board or an outside door. This is a great teaching tool for reinforcing shape and colour concept with preschoolers.
Of course, as with all kids’ activities, caution and proper supervision should be used. The magnetic pieces could be a choking hazard to young children.
If you are looking for more busy bag ideas, you may be interested in following my Activity Bags board on Pinterest.
Follow Sharla Kostelyk’s board Activity Bags on Pinterest.
3 Busy Bags with Popsicle Sticks
5 Busy Bags with Pipe Cleaners
I’m always looking for crafts for our kids camps that don’t involve a trip to the craft store and this one is FANTASTIC. You could even cut up freebie refrigerator magnets that companies give you.