Christmas busy bag activities for toddlers

Readers of this blog will know how much I like making busy bags! I've been putting together some busy bags with a Christmas theme. Some of them will come with us when we go on holiday before Christmas, and the others will be ready to pull out for a Christmas activity when we need something to fill a bit of time. Most of these activities also require glue, I use white PVA glue. Some of the pieces within the bag came from Christmas craft kits which I always keep an eye out for in the post-Christmas sales when they can be heavily reduced.

Here are some of the Christmas busy bags that I've put together:

Pipe cleaner bracelets

This really simple activity has kept mine busy for ages. All you need are some pipe cleaners and some plastic beads, the "pony beads" with a large hole in the centre are ideal. Children can easily thread the beads onto the pipe cleaners and the fuzz holds them on firmly so they don't fall off and they don't get frustrated. When they have finished threading the bracelets can be bent around the wrist and worn.


Christmas collage

Collect together a selection of Christmas themed background papers, some Christmas images cut from last year's Christmas cards and Christmas advertising leaflets and magazines, some pre-cut foam shapes and a tube of glitter for good measure. You could also add Christmas stickers, sequins, stars, scraps of coloured paper etc. Provide the child with a glue stick and let them get creating. You could use their finished projects to make Christmas cards.

Christmas tree decoration

I cut out some simple Christmas tree shapes from green card. Each decoration requires two shapes, one with a slit cut from the bottom up to the halfway point and the other cut with a slit from the top down to the halfway point. They can then be slotted together to make a tree that stands up by itself once decorated. I've included a selection of sequins and coloured stars and a tube of glitter glue to decorate and you will be left with some lovely child-made Christmas decorations.

Pom pom characters

These craft bits and pieces were from a Christmas craft kit, but you could easily make your own if you have some pom poms and foam sheets. This kit makes a Father Christmas and a snowman. Pom poms can be quite difficult to stick together so you need to make sure that you use plenty of glue, and smaller children will need help with this.

To hold the contents, I use small resealable sandwich bags from Ikea. The individual bags can then be stored in a larger bag or shoebox.

You can find more of my Christmas crafts on my Seasonal Crafts page.

Toddler busy bag activity - threading

I love putting together toddler busy bags. Threading is another activity that can easily be put together from items found around the house. Toddler busy bags are a great way to entertain toddlers for a short period of time.

For this bag, all you need is something to thread with, and things to thread on to it. When looking for something to thread on to, try to find something that is a bit stiffer than just string, perhaps coated wire which is easy to post through holes. Pipe cleaners also work really well, as the fuzzy surface stops things slipping off. I've used a freezer bag clip at the bottom of the thread to stop things falling off.

Some ideas for things to thread - beads, paperclips, buttons, cut up pieces of drinking straw, penne pasta, eyelets, washers, cotton reels. This activity can also be adapted to suit the age and ability of your toddler. As your todder's hand/eye co-ordination improves you can thread objects with smaller and smaller holes. You can include more beads in the busy bag so that the child will have a finished necklace or bracelet which they can wear.

You might also like my other busy bags for toddlers:

Make a monster kit busy bag
Pasta and pots busy bag
Christmas busy bag

Toddler busy bag activity - pasta, pots and bottles

Toddler busy bags are really good to have on hand when you need some quick activities to keep a toddler busy for a few minutes. I keep mine all together in a shoe box that I can pull out when I'm looking for something quick to keep a toddler entertained for a little while. This dried pasta, pots and bottles busy bag is easily put together from things that you either have around the house or can keep an eye out for.

I store my individual busy bags in these sandwich bags from Ikea which are great for keeping children's small toys organised as they come in a variety of different sizes, these are the smallest. For the dried pasta I've used macaroni pasta because it fits nicely inside the bottles and doesn't take up too much space, but you could mix it up a bit with a variety of different sizes and shapes. Dried pasta keeps for ages, my children are still playing with pasta that has been around for years.

For the bottles and pots, clear ones are good if you can get them so that children can watch them filling up. I use bottles from hotel toiletries and sample sized bottles, and there is also a Kinder egg inside in there too - it's nice to provide a range of sizes and openings. The screw top bottles can be difficult for a toddler to open, but keep an eye out because once they have mastered this skill then none of your bottles in the house are safe! Everything can be scooped up in to the bag easily when you've finished.

Obviously this activity is best for an older toddler that will not put any of the small items into their mouth, and even older children should only play under supervision. 

Have fun!

You might also like my other toddler busy bags:

Make a monster busy bag kit
Threading busy bag
Christmas busy bag

10 car journey activities to do with your toddler

We have a long car journey coming up, and so I'm putting together a bag of activities to keep Harry busy. There isn't a lot of space between the car seats in the back, but most of these activities will require a certain level of intervention, either to keep him interested or to keep frustration to a minimum. I'm also trying to come up with activities to keep him amused by himself.

I'll be taking a small tray for some of the activities. And I'll be sure to report back on how well they worked! Here's what I've come up with! Most of these activities need a tray to keep everything together.

Laminated pictures - themed collections of images to look at together. I found these on various websites and have printed them out in colour so that we can go through and name the different objects.

Aquadoodle Mini Mats - we have a couple of sets of these. They are little blank mats that you scribble on with the special wet pen and the picture appears. When the water is dry you can reuse them. They are brilliant for keeping little ones busy and don't make any mess, you just need to make sure that you have water to refill the pens if they get really keen.

Playdoh -  I bought this little Play-Doh Mini Fun Factory which contains two small pots and a mini extruder, then added a couple of cutters and a lollipop stick. 

Small jigsaws - we had a few that were given out in restaurants etc., you need little jigsaws that have small pieces but not too many - something like these mini jungle jigsaws  

Collage bag - glue stick, collage materials, background papers. Can be supplemented on the journey with free catalogues or leaflets if required, maybe leaflets with pictures of the places that you have been visiting. 

Colouring - a small colouring book, pack of crayons and stickers. Crayons are best as they don't make much mess and don't need sharpening like pencils.

Matching activities - I print a grid of pictures or shapes and then cut out the corresponding shapes to be glued in place over the top. I also scanned in some foam stickers and am providing the matching stickers to be stuck over the top of the scanned images for some shape matching fun.

Magnet books - try to find one with magnets that are quite large so that they don't get lost. We had this Peppa Pig: Marvellous Magnet Book which was brilliant.

Car layout and car stickers - I drew this out myself, I hope he likes it! Just draw out a simple road way picture with a few shops and houses etc. and provide car stickers to decorate it with.

Small books - there are all sorts of little mini library book sets that you can buy - we had this lovely Axel Scheffler Pocket Library. Also children's magazines, especially those with games and stickers and a toy on the front.

I hope that these ideas were helpful!

Ginny at Small Things also has some brilliant suggestions in her blog post about travelling with young children.

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Make a Monster Kit - Toddler Busy Bag Activity

This Make-a-Monster kit is really easy to put together and would be perfect for a long car or plane journey, or a quick activity to pull out when you need to amuse your toddler for a few minutes. You can make it using bits and pieces from around the house or craft cupboard, and it all fits neatly into a sandwich bag to take out and about with you. It's a great Halloween craft for little ones that can't handle anything too spooky.

The basic monster's head is made from a large brown piece of felt. If you have several children then it's a good idea to make at least one for each child, perhaps in different shapes and colours. Then I used different colours of felt to cut out some suitable monster shapes - for example sharp teeth, tongues, eyebrows and different shapes which can be used for spots or other markings. They eyes are made from some black buttons sewn onto a white felt background.

I also gathered together some coloured shredded paper which can be used for hair, beards or anything else that the child can imagine, as well as short pieces of pipe cleaners and pieces of coloured craft foam. You could also add shapes made from coloured paper and card, scraps of material for clothing, coloured tissue paper or even little objects like paper clips and dried pasta shapes - the possibilities are endless!

I love these re-sealable bags from Ikea to use for my toddler busy bag activities. They come in a range of different sizes so I can always find one that suits what I'm looking for! Here is the Make a Monster kit all packed away:

It takes up hardly any space to store, when you've finished playing, just scoop it all back into the bag ready for another day.

I've written about a few Halloween crafts for young children which you might also enjoy, like these super simple Halloween window decorations. My children also really enjoyed their Halloween sensory tub and Halloween ice block excavation activity. Finally if you are planning a Halloween party for young children you might enjoy my post with some Halloween party ideas for little ones.

You might also like my other busy bags for toddlers:

Pasta and pots busy bag
Threading busy bag
Christmas busy bag