Week 2 Project: "Toddler Busy Bag/Book"
AKA: Crap that can keep my 2 year old entertained for a 6 hour flight.
We went on a trip in January. It was the trip from H-E-double hockey sticks, but that is another post completely. My son is 4 1/2 and pretty well versed in technology. You could park him in front of of a TV or video game, or smart phone for that matter for hours on end. I don't allow this, but long flights are where I give up all rules and use whatever I can to retain my sanity. Needless to say, I wasn't worried about keeping him quiet on the flight. My daughter couldn't care less about TV. She will watch half an episode of Caillou and then wander off from lack of interest...or desire to upend something then walk away. I was most concerned about her on this trip.
A few of my friends had pinned "Busy Bag" ideas so I did more searching and found an Etsy store that makes "Quiet books". I started to work on the different pages with the grand plan of having it all neatly bound in a book by the time we left. These pages are time consuming! All made from felt and, while not difficult, just require a fair amount of time. Needless to say I didn't get them all into a book, but I did bring a clipboard with us and we played with one page at a time.
I got 6 pages done: 2 pages of counting beads, 1 textures page with all kinds of fun embellishments on it, a color wheel page where the pie pieces are attached with Velcro for matching, a tic-tac-toe page, and a lift the flap button counting page. (All inspiration pins are listed at the bottom of the post)
I also glued a ton of stuff to magnets and had a magnet board for her to play with. I used a small cookie sheet and a bunch of felt stickers, colored pom poms, some googly eyes and made a couple felt mouth options to make faces. This was also a big hit. Arielle loved playing with the "mag-a-nets" (as she called them) on the plane and while we were out West for the trip.
I made a few other things for the trip, but I will save them for another post. And let me just say, those busy books cost $70 on Etsy and are worth EVERY FREAKING PENNY! They take so much time to make that it justifies the amount they charge! Trust! Time is money people.
Number bead inspiration: Sweet Dreams Shop
Color Wheel, Tic-tac-toe page and lift the flap numbers inspiration: Sunset Blue Gifts
The textures page I thought of myself while wandering through the trim aisle at Jo-Ann fabric. I've always wanted a use for pom pom trim, and white fur!
Magnet board inspiration: Life: Styled
