Keeping the hands and mind of an energetic toddler busy while the older siblings do their schoolwork is a skill fit for the circus. I have learned to keep a stash of busy boxes nearby to keep him from creating his own barrel of monkeys in the kitchen. I pulled a few ideas from the internet, but also dug through bins of odds and ends I had around the house to fill our boxes.
I use inexpensive plastic pencil boxes for each busy box and keep them out of reach except for school time. Here is a list of items that work well.
10 Toddler Busy Boxes Ideas
- Beads and Pipe cleaners– a stash of extraordinarily large beads (for toddler safety) and stiff pipe cleaners. We practice stringing the beads.
- Small bucket of play dough with plastic figurines, small comb, other interesting objects to stick into the dough.
- Stickers and note pad– a collection of tiny stickers and larger stickers, good for fine motor skills as they peel them up and stick them back down. I save random, promotional stickers we are sent in the mail for this.
- Markers and paper– Washable markers and paper cut down to size to fit inside the pencil box.
- White board, low-odor marker, eraser.
- Memory cards– I choose 5 or 6 sets of matches to be played with. More than that is overwhelming for a toddler. He lines these up, sets matches on top, collects toys that also match his cards, etc.
- Bottle with small opening and small beans to pinch and drop inside (keep an eye on this one because small items could be a choking hazard for some kids).
- Colorful plastic bugs and cards. The cards help learn sorting according to color and type of bug, as well as patterns.
- Mini tangram set. I pulled a few of the simplest tangram pattern cards and the necessary shapes to build the patterns from our larger set.
- O shaped cereal activity book with cup of o’s to snack on and play with.
These are just a few ideas for busy boxes for kids. Think about activities your child likes or skills he or she needs to practice and shrink the activity to fit your storage or space where you’d like the child to play. Personalize the busy boxes to the interest of your toddler.
Finally, as you work with the other children you homeschool, hand a busy box to your toddler and help them clean it up when they are done. This might take several days for him to learn, but it will be helpful later on. Also, don’t stress if the boxes are combined or messed up during the school time. Take a few minutes over the weekend and reconfigure, replace or refill your boxes… or better yet, outsource this chore to a helpful older sibling.
Lindsay Banton is a caffeinated mother to three great kids. She never expected to homeschool, but has found that it is a wonderful addition to their lifestyle and wouldn’t change it for the world. In addition to homeschooling, Lindsay works alongside her husband in campus ministry at a large university in Connecticut. She grew up in Virginia but has settled into life in New England, learning to love the long winters, cool springs, green summers and gorgeous autumns- and has built a boot collection to meet all the demands. She is currently blogging at www.oaksreplanted.blogspot.com.
