Our First (Official) Vacation: Part Two- What to do? Our "busy box"

First we had to plan.  My parents made a plan for stops all the way up.  To drive straight up would take approximately 6 hours.  No stopping was not an option with 2 toddlers so my parents mapped out a scenic route with stops planned every 1 ½ to 2 hours.  They took compiled together pictures from each stop and put them in order in a powerpoint presentation for the kids to watch (and they did…over and over) so they had an idea of what to expect.  I planned activities for both children for on the way up and on the way back.  24 busy bags and activities total. I just prayed it was worth it.  It was either going to be a really good trip, or a really bad trip.

Our Activities:

We brought along the regular busy stuff- Books, LeapPads (which I added new story books and videos onto, iPad, portable DVD player with 5 new movies, coloring books and crayons.

I also made “busy bags” for each child.  Many of you are already aware of what a “busy bag” is, but for those of you not familiar with it a busy bag is a small bag filled with a small activity that the child can do independently to stay busy for a little while.  I took all the activities and put them in one bin.  We called it our "Busy Box". 

Our "Busy Box"

 I was able to find a TON online with ideas for our busy bags.  Some of the things we filled our bags with:  I love our busy bags!  We will definitely use them again in the future!

·         Crayons and paper

·         Pop Toobs

·         Coloring books

·         Puzzles

·         White boards

·         Cloths pin games

·         Little art activities

·         Foam door hangers and foam animal stickers

·         Name practice tracing sheets.

·         Cutout shapes with markers to color on them.

·         Farm animal Legos (I used THIS site)

·         Button practice (I used THIS site) 

·         Matching color shades (I used THIS site) 

·         I Spy bags (I used THIS site)

Our busy bags

I love our busy bags!  We will definitely use them again in the future! They are great to bring along with us to church and BBQ's to keep the kids busy so we can take a breather.

  

More busy bag resources:

The Princess and the Tot

The Activity Mom

Play Create Explore

Monkey Butt Junction

Walking By the Way


Did you miss part one?  Click HERE to read it now.