Have you ever heard of Preschool In A Bag activities?  Basically, they are learning activities stored in a ziplock that can be given to preschoolers to keep them busily learning while Mom works with other children.  I loved the idea, but don't have a preschooler right now.  But, there are times when I need to keep Caleb (1st grade) busy when he finishes school before Mahayla, so I put together some "Busy Boxes" for him.  It's been a hit, so I thought I'd share the idea.

I bought several (12, I think)  plastic shoeboxes at WalMart.  Then, I went through my school room, kitchen, office, art supply box, and card & game shelf.  I gathered things that were:

1.  small enough to fit in the boxes.

2.  easy enough for him to do without explanation or help.

3.  fun, yet educational.

Then I put several different activities in each of the boxes. 

All the boxes contain activities in several subject areas - math, language, science/history/geography, art....  For example, one box might contain addition flashcards, rubber stamps & ink, magnetic letters and a bird memory game.  Another box might contain plastic coins, word tiles, a fabric map and stickers.

When he's finished with his work, but I'm not quite ready to "set him free", I'll ask him to choose a busy box.  He pulls one off the shelf and decides what activities he'd like to do from the box.  My only rule is:  ONLY ONE BOX.  When one comes off the shelf, that's the one he works with.  Otherwise, he'd pull every one of them down looking for "just the right activity.  He'd spend so long looking, that no activities would actually be done! 

What can you put in a busy box?

*manipulatives - coins, pattern blocks, attribute blocks, buttons to sort, clock, magnetic numbers, tangrams, base ten blocks, linking cubes, calculator, dominoes, anything!

*building blocks

*easy puzzles

*handheld electronic games

*language manipulatives - magnetic letters, word tiles,  I'm drawing a blank here!

*art supplies - stickers, glitter glue, special markers/crayons, fun scissors, pom poms, google eyes, popsicle sticks, paper punches, rubber stamps & ink, stencils, anything!

*flashcards - math, presidents, geography, any type!

*cool pens and small pads of paper

*maps to explore

*matching games

*science manipulatives - magnets, measuring cups & rice, magnifying glasses, plastic bugs/dinosaurs, small food scale, small microscope & slides, shells, life cycle cards 

*history manipulatives - plastic cowboys & indians, timelines to put in order

*games that can be done by self - like Jenga, Blockhead, Rush Hour Jr., SET, Brick By Brick

*little craft packages like you might get from Oriental Trading or the Dollar Store

*playdough

Please leave a comment if you have other ideas to add to the Busy Box list!!!