Cute Colorful Pompom Sorting: Inexpensive Busy Bag DIY
Life has been pretty on-the-go lately. Unfortunately, with 3 busy boys, that also means a lot of waiting, car seats, and boredom for them. I’ve always been careful to keep books and snacks packed no matter where we’re headed to, but lately my kiddos need more. Putting together easy and inexpensive DIY busy bags has been a great solution and boredom buster. Read more to see the newest bag I put together this past weekend for #thelittleone. It’s fun for kids, inexpensive to create, and great for young learners.
POMPOM SORTING INEXPENSIVE BUSY BAG IDEA
As far as my kids are concerned, there are never enough pompoms! Lucky for me, pompoms are plentiful, and reasonably priced. They make the perfect manipulative for this cute, colorful inexpensive busy bag!
Supplies You’ll Need For Pompom Sorting Bag:
- Pompoms in an assortment of colors.
- I chose red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and white.
- Weekly pill organizers.
- These come in varying styles. I chose 2 so my son would work on opening + closing containers in a few ways. (Better for his fine motor skills!)
- Rainbow stack + screw style. Ours is from Dollar Tree.
- Typical rectangle flip-top style.
- These come in varying styles. I chose 2 so my son would work on opening + closing containers in a few ways. (Better for his fine motor skills!)
- Scissors.
- Construction paper in each color. (Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, white.)
- Transparent tape.
- A bag to hold your busy bag pieces.
- I generally use pencil pouches that slide into binders. We keep a binder full of inexpensive busy bag options in the car, so we can grab a few at an appointment or restaurant. The bags make it simple to keep everything organized. Using the binder means it’s easy to change up the available bags every few weeks, so my boys don’t get bored.
- Optional: tweezers, tongs, or other kid-friendly ‘transfer tools’.
How To Assemble + Use Your Inexpensive Busy Bag:
- First, assemble all the necessary materials.
- Second, use the scissors to cut a small rectangle from each sheet of paper, approximately the size of a flip-top lid.
- Third, use a small loop of transparent tape to attach a paper rectangle to the underside of each flip-top lid.
- Each lid should have 1 color.
- Each lid should have 1 color.
- Present one or both sets of pill organizers and pompoms to your child.
- Start small, with one set if your child is still mastering colors. Add the second later for extra challenge.
- Encourage your child to open and close each pill organizer independently. The screw-top kind is much trickier, and will give a different fine motor work than the flip-top does. They’re both great ways to practice.
- Once your child is adept at color matching and the skill of transferring each pompom by hand, introduce sensory and fine motor transfer tools for an new challenge.
- Tweezers, tongs, spoons, scoops, etc, are all great for pre-writing and pre-cutting hand strengthening.
- Tweezers, tongs, spoons, scoops, etc, are all great for pre-writing and pre-cutting hand strengthening.
- Start small, with one set if your child is still mastering colors. Add the second later for extra challenge.
- #thelittleone loves anything that’s a challenge, race, or competition, so even after he has color identification and the mechanics of opening and closing the organizers well established, he likes to challenge Dad to speed races, or tries to ‘beat the clock’. He’s happy to play with this inexpensive busy bag over and over, and it’s fun to find him discover new ways to play and learn.
This Busy Bag Was Inspired By:
- The cute + sweet rainbow treat I put together for my boy’s on St. Patrick’s Day!
- Teach Me Mommy‘s tasty jelly beans busy bag idea!
LOOKING FOR OTHER SIMPLE OR INEXPENSIVE BUSY BAG IDEAS?
Look no further- I’ve got a great collection of ideas already started on Pinterest!
What sort of busy bags or books do your kids like the best? Let me know in the comments below!
Jessica Bryn
This idea is genius!! I’m always looking out for things to do at home with my kids. We’re really big on water play right now since it’s summer, but I love finding fine motor ideas too.
Kate
Thanks Jessica! We try to get outside to play too, of course, but sometimes with the baby, we are stuck inside while he naps. 🙂
Sara
This is such a fun and creative idea. Kids definitely needs things like this to keep them occupied when your in a pinch. Thanks for sharing!
Kate
Thanks very much for checking out the post Sara!
Cynthia
This is such a great idea 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
Kate
Thank you Cynthia!
Katherine Wolfe
Very cute ideas! I wish I had spent more time doing stuff like this when my son was young. Good for you, Mama!
Kate
Thanks so much Katie! I didn’t have the chance to do it as much when my oldest was little, so I’m making up for it a bit with my younger two now!
Mallie
Such a simple but fun activity for kids! love it.
Kate
Thanks very much for checking it out Mallie!
Msddah
I love this. Can your son make me one as well! It will be perfect for travel!
Kate
Hahaha, I’m sure he’d be happy to!
armywifewithdaughters
This is such a great idea and awesome that everything is available at the Dollar Store!
Kate
Thanks!
Lauri
Cute projects for little ones!
Kate
You know how important is to keep the little monsters busy!
Lorena | www.lorenaylennox.com
Such a great idea!!!! Great way to learn colors!
Kate
Thanks so much Lorena!
Tracy
This is such a great idea. And it’s cheap enough to make two so my toddlers don’t fight over it!! Love little activities to keep them busy. Thanks for sharing!
Kate
Thank you so much Tracy- I hope your little ones love it too!
Jennifer Maune
Busy bags are always so much fun – I definitely want to try out this one! Sorting always keeps the kids occupied – and it’s so much fun watching them feel accomplished when they do it for the first time!
-Jennifer
Kate
You’re absolutely right- seeing how proud they feel after a new task is such a rewarding experience!
Alexis
This looks like such a fun activity!
Kate
Thanks! My son really enjoys it.