Busy bags do not have to only be enjoyed by pre-schoolers. They are a great tool for elementary aged students for reenforcing learning concepts and creating a quiet activity for them to do on their own.
Busy bags are one of the things I always bring with me in my little waiting room survival kit. They are also a good tool for the times when I need to work one-on-one with one of the kids and need something to occupy the other ones.
This particular busy bag is not only great for reenforcing the current sight words or spelling words that are being learned, it also costs nothing to make.
Materials needed:
- paint chips (or card stock cut into rectangles)
- permanent marker
- large hole punch
- medium or large resealable bag
In order to create these sight word cards, you will need two paint chips per word. Punch large holes in one of them. I used a heart shaped punch, but regular squares or circles would work just as well.
Next, lay the card with the holes punched in it on top of the other card so that you will be able to line up the words properly. Write lowercase letters on one card, through the holes made, and uppercase letters of the same word on the other. Place them all into a resealable bag for easy storage. This also makes them easy to transport.
The activity is much more challenging if you use different colours of paint chips for the two parts of the word so that the kids have to match them up based on the letters and not based on colour.
It’s a good idea to make some blank cards while you have the supplies out so that you are able to add more words as your child begins to expand their sight word repertoire.
Waiting Rooms: a Parent’s Survival Guide
Teaching Strong Sentence Writing
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.
This is such a neat idea! I have a ton of paint chips, and now I know what I’m going to do with a lot of them!