Busy Bag Activity ~ Highway Shapes
How many of you have boys that seem to be bored a lot? I came across this awesome Busy Bag Activity and had to adapt it for my own kids (a shout out to Cody and Chelsea Groves Blog for the inspiration). As a mom of all boys, it’s my duty to find them things to do that will last more than 5 seconds.
For this activity bag, you will want to find “highway” shaped cards because the purpose of this activity bag is making car roads out of shapes. Luckily, someone has already done the hard work for us and we can print out these fabulous highway cards right here.
#1. Print Off the Shapes
Before you cut out the shapes, don’t forget to laminate them. I know this is such a simple step, but there are a few things you can do to make this easier on yourself. You can go ahead and print off the different shapes on various pieces of colored paper. This makes for more variety. If you only have black and white ink, then that works too!
*If you don’t have a laminator, you can buy some laminating sheets at the teacher store or online. I also used a page binder to bind my pages so they don’t get spread across the car or church pew. It keeps them all together and I love that my particular page binder allows me to add pages as needed. The binding simply pops open and then you use the binding tool to re-bind. Simple!
#2. Put Together Different Activities
Of course the fun part of the highway shapes is allowing your child to run his car around the shape a million times. There are also several other activities you can do with these shapes. Here are a few ideas:
– Use a dry erase marker for the highway shapes. This is perfect especially on laminated paper. Your child can use the dry erase marker to go up, down, and around. This is a fun way to learn shapes. Plus, who doesn’t love playing with a dry erase marker? Just use a damp cloth to wash off the marker when you’re done (rather when they’re done).
– Playdough is also a cool way to utilize this activity bag. Take the playdough and run it along the edges of the highway. This is a great hands-on approach to learning about shapes.
– Using small blocks or connects to run along the highway is also an alternative. There are connecting blocks that work perfectly for this sort of thing. Really, you can get creative with this part.
– Using any sort of noodle you have in your house is also a great alternative. You will want to make sure your child is old enough to not choke on a noodle. You also don’t want your other children to choke on the noodles either, so keep them put up!
#3. Enjoy!
You can use your highway shapes for a multitude of activities. This activity bag is perfect for center time or even an activity on the go. You know your child best, so feel free to accommodate it to your particular child’s needs. Enjoy watching your child play and learn at the same time!
More Busy Bag Activities
Pool Noodle Sorting & Counting
Heavy Crane Math
Love printables as much as I do? Check out my other free printables for learning, cupcake toppers, treat bag toppers and more.
