Toddler Busy Boxes

I mentioned on Friday that I made busy boxes for the resident toddler. 

 

I've done this a few times over the years. When Anna turned 18 months and started to give me a glimpse of the type of toddler/preschooler she was going to be. I instantly knew we'd be breaking out all the tricks to keep her occupied during school time.

 The fun thing about toddlers is, they find even the most boring stuff entertaining! Especially...trash!

We filled a water bottle with pom poms and she played with it for close to an hour. 

Hand them a little bit of a leftover streamer roll. That give you 30 minutes of free time! Toddlers can be such complicated creatures, yet oh so easy at the same time.

We gathered items from around the house, and made a trip to the dollar store. As well as a couple of choice items from Walmart. Our busy boxes are ever changing, and no two are alike.

Each box has an item from a few topics.

Something crafty; Crayons, watercolors, playdough, stickers

Something challenging; Puzzle, bottle with pom poms,  pipe cleaners stuck inside a cardboard cone.

Something fun; Toy animals, Fisher Price little people, a tea set.

Then there is the mother of all busy boxes...




The rice box! 


 
 This was originally supposed to be filled with sand. It is getting later in the year, and Walmart only had colored sand. I opted for rice instead.

This box only comes out about once a week and is a highly supervised activity!  

We made five boxes this year. Four that she can do mostly by herself or with a helper. As well as the rice box mentioned above. 






If you type busy boxes on Google or Pinterest it brings up so many ideas!

If you are a 'Crafty McCrafterson', you can go hog wild making games, crafts, busy work etc .
I am not that crafty of a person. At least not when it comes to items that the toddler will probably rip into shreds in about two months. So I opted for the 'trash as a craft' and 'what does the dollar store have ready made' variety.

I am more of the 'Lazy Busy Box' kind of person. ;) 

These boxes are subject to change and transform all year long.

She will grow and be smarter(Hopefully).

 She will tear stuff up(Yep.)

We will lose part of it or neglect to put it all back in the correct box(Most definitely).

Sorting the busy boxes will probably become an item on the weekly chore list.(It's on my mental to do list)

I've mentioned before that we do real life here. I refuse to pretend that these boxes will stay fully intact and or organized in any way. By Christmas they will probably contain empty sticker papers, empty playdough containers, two half pieces of a crayon, the remnants of fifteen paper cutting crafts for the 7 year old,  seven goldfish crackers and a petrified cookie. I also fully realize that we will always be stepping on and sweeping up rice. 

At least I can say I tried. 




 Today was our first day of school. We pulled out one of the boxes during the first part of school. It definitely did its job. It kept her busy for almost an hour. Then she started pelting us with crayons.

 Oh, the joys of living with a toddler.




Happy Monday!

~Lyndsay