How to Make a Spring Flowers Busy Bag

One of the first blog posts I ever wrote was about making pizza bags for your children. That was a fun post to write and lots of children had fun creating different types of pizza with the pieces in their busy bags. This blog post is about making another type of busy bag your students and children may enjoy... spring flowers! Keep reading for directions.

This is an updated version of a blog post I wrote in 2016. Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.

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A lot of moms and preschool teachers like to create busy bags and stash them in their purses, backpacks, diaper bags, totes, etc. Busy bags are simple activities that children play with quietly and independently. They are perfect for long car rides, waiting for food at a restaurant, and even for center time in the classroom.

Once children hit kindergarten and first grade, they are old enough to help make their own busy bags. This busy bag of flowers is an example of one that children can make with their parents or teachers. The materials don’t need to be anything fancy– the materials in my busy bag come from my arts and crafts scrap basket!

If you want to make a busy bag with your children, first work together to find materials your child is drawn to. (If you’re reading this as a teacher, this would be a good activity for children to do with parent volunteers!) As you can see in this case, the child was drawn to green felt and glittery foam pieces. Help your child cut out the pieces into circles, stems, leaves, petals, and any other shapes you feel like making. It’s OK if the pieces aren’t shaped perfectly. The circles can be wobbly; the stems can be crooked, and the colors don’t have to match. Include a variety of shapes, materials, textures, colors, etc. Strive for enough variety to keep your child engaged, but not too much that will overwhelm him or her.

Possible materials for your busy bag:

• felt
• pipe cleaners
• ribbons
• pom poms
• sheets of craft foam

Once all of the pieces are cut out, let your child play for a while. Let him or her have fun creating all sorts of bold and colorful combinations. Some of the flowers will be silly-looking and some will look pretty. Either way is totally OK. The goal is for your child to stay busy and content.

What do you think of the spring flowers I made? Cute, eh? Even grown-ups can enjoy playing with busy bags!

Did you enjoy reading about this spring busy bag? If so, check out these other blog posts about fun activities from preschoolers:

• Pro Tip: Helping Preschool Students Identify and Express Their Emotions
• Craft + Math: Mermaid Math: Counting, Colors, and Patterns
• Book + Craft: Zester the Zebra and His Missing Stripes by Christen Conrad
• Book + Craft: Will You Always Be Here? by Nadine Damo
• Book + Goo Recipe: Goo on My Shoe by Jacqui Shepherd
• Book + STEM + Craft: Leaves in Fall by Mari Schuh