Activity bags

This past summer on vacation we drove from here to Durango, CO. We drove the 750 miles in two days each way. Now that's a lot of car time for a 1-year-old and 4-year-old, and frankly for mommy and daddy too!

So in preparation of the trip I made up a bunch of activity bags. Activity bags are individual activities with all needed materials portioned into a gallon zip-lock bag. There's actually a great book out there which I haven't read but puts this philosophy to work for home school moms with preschool age children. It provides a self-directed activity with minimal instruction from the parent so they can focus on older children. Its a brilliant idea, and it worked great for our trip. In fact, I liked this idea so much, I've maintained several of the bags and we pull them out a few times a week for general activity or when I need to get something accomplished with fewer interruptions.

We use a medium size metal cookie sheet to contain these activities at home or in the car. If we use up some of the materials I replace them and they go back in the activity bag box (a storage drawer). Each bag is labeled with the activity name.

Below you'll find some of our favorites, and I bet it will be enough to get your juices flowing too.

Cutting: A pair of kids scissors and anytime of cutting material: paper of different weights and colors, fabric, felt, etc. The paper could be junk mail, or old cards or really anything since it goes in the trash afterwards. You could include or make a separate bag with craft punches too. We recently had little bears all over the house because someone got into this bag without asking....

Felt Story Board: This can be super easy or a bit more complicated. I made a mini one, small enough to travel with. But I've also seen them mounted in a picture frame so it looks like a portrait. Then I added felt shapes to be used to create pictures or stories.

Beads: Lots of beads of your choice and some cording or string. You can instruct them to make patterns with the beads or let them do it free form. I also made a second one with fruity cheerios - activity, necklace and snack in one!