One of the things I enjoy doing with my kiddos is incorporating learning into a fun activity. And if that activity can be incorporated into a busy bag – well, I love it even more! This activity for the Pre-K level concentrates on visual motor skills, hand-eye coordination, letter recognition, word identification, as well as picture-word matching.
- 1 pipe cleaner, cut in half
- Wood Alphabet Beads
, with at least a 1/8 inch opening
- free printable
- scissors
- plastic baggie
- laminator & 1 laminating sheet
- Print out & laminate
the free printable.
- After it is laminated, cut the sheet into 10 word flashcards.
- Using one half of the pipe cleaner, have the kiddos thread the matching letters, building the word for each card.
For their small hands, when they are using a pipe cleaner versus string, it provides a firmer base to thread the beads onto without the beads turning. This is especially important for easier recognition of each letter to build the word. This is a great busy bag activity to keep in your purse for restaurants. It’s one of the more frequently requested busy bags :)
And here is the free printable (click on the button for a printable PDF file):
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Awesome ideas, thanks for sharing! I don’t home school, but with NY’s “common core” it’s forcing me to be a “homeschooler” and do a majority of the teaching. I have 3 boys (oldest is 5, and twin’s are 3.)
They love to be busy and are easily bored. I know this will keep their attention!
Awesome Shannon!!! Love it :) I think that’s my biggest fear – and the reason I am currently homeschooling. I was lost in the school system (and things weren’t even as bad then) – I fear that my little ones will get lost & not get the education I want for them – it’s all about supplementation – whether you homeschool or not – busy bags are excellent for that!! :) xx
Hi! Just curious how many beads you’d suggest to put in each busy bag? I dont want all these beads in one since i know they will probably spill at some point. Do you think i could make 2 or 3 with one bag of alphabet beads? Love your idea! Thank you.
Hi Allison!! When I did it with V I made sure I had a letter for each one representing in the group, not doubles, just that every letter is accounted for :) Yes – totally the bag of beads (depending on the mixture of letters) would probably get you 4-5 bags I would guess. Hope that helps!! xx
any way you will tell me how you made your lettering so I can make more to match?
Hello Alee! I made them in Photoshop, as I do all my printables :) Thanks! xx
Cool – I will have to think of three letter words.
I finally got use of a computer. Steve at work still has mine – transferring all my files!
Thanks for popping by mom! :)
xx love you, m
These are awesome! :) We love busy bags at our house! We have done busy bag swaps a few times on my blog as well :) Love this! ;)
Thanks Cindy! We’ve done a busy bag swap once with my mom’s group – it is indeed time for another one :) Thanks for stopping by!
xx ♥ m