Creating Busy Boxes and Activity Schedules for your Toddler

Hello again! I'm here to share a quick post about busy boxes and activity schedules. If your toddler is anything like mine, then you know the stresses that come with trying to make dinner, fold laundry, clean the house, basically anything besides devoting full attention to your little human. Why is it that they pick the times when we are the busiest to become the most needy? It's like a 6th sense they all have! So I came up with a few "busy boxes" to help make evenings a little more smooth and a little less like a giant hot mess. 

Some things to keep in mind...

#1 - You DO NOT have to make your activities super extravagant. Your toddler will be excited about anything you pull out of your containers...seriously, if you are excited about it, they will be too.

#2 - You need to spend the first few times showing your toddler how to "play" with the items. So I suggest pulling out your chosen activity 1-2 times before just throwing it at them while you try and prepare dinner. 

#3 - Designate a special area for your busy boxes...these are not meant as a "free for all". My toddler has a little table in the kitchen where she plays with her busy boxes. She knows that the items need to stay at her table. You will thank yourself later when you have avoided scooping mini pom-poms out of the couch crevasses and every other area of your house...avoid that...seriously.

Ideas for Busy Boxes:

Stamps and Stickers...just add some paper and your toddler will enjoy creating a masterpiece!

Good ol' color crayons and coloring books. Remember, this does not have to be extravagant...my toddler gets excited the minute I pull out a container, no matter what's inside. 

Paint, paint brushes and sponge stamps. I would not recommend this activity during the times when you really need to be super productive with your house work...unless you enjoy scrubbing paint off the floors and walls!

These dot markers are so fun! And you can buy the coordinating dot coloring books. They are basically like a giant stamp/marker all in one. Your toddler will love stamping away!

For this box, I just threw in some old craft supplies that I had laying around. My daughter can glue pom poms or feathers to paper, we have even attached feathers to toilet paper rolls. She loves this one!

This one is my daughter's absolute favorite! I love it too because it is one of the less messy options that I have. I usually pull this one out during dinner prep time and it gives me a good half hour of work time. I have since added beans to the tub to make it harder to find the colored bears. My daughter sorts the bears into the coordinating cups and loves to scoop and dump them back out into the bin. I bought this set at learning palace for a very reasonable price. 

I usually pair this one with some measuring cups and spoons. My daughter enjoys scooping and digging in the pom poms. Sometimes will will even throw little toys in there for her to scoop out. Remember what I said earlier about giving your child ideas about how to play with each box? Yeah, check out the picture below...while it was a ton of fun for her at the time, I was finding little pom poms strewn about the house for the next month! LOL!

Play Dough! You can't get must better than that! Add some cookie cutters and utensils and your little one will have a ton of fun. 

Pipe cleaners and large buttons. This box has so many options! You can add a kitchen strainer and have your toddler insert pipe cleaners into the little holes. You can teach your child how to string the buttons onto the pipe cleaners (a great fine motor activity) Or you can just let them use their imagination! This is another one of my daughter's favorites!

Flash cards! The most simple idea is sometimes the best!

I'm sure whatever you come up with to put in your toddler's busy boxes will be a fun addition to your little one's daily routine. Remember, if you make it fun and a really big deal...they will too!!

Using the "PECS" System in a Home Setting:

Here is another great idea to help you busy moms manage their "at home" time with their toddlers. I don't know about you, but for me it was becoming harder and harder to keep my little one entertained at home without blasting the TV all day long. Our days were becoming filled with whining and frustration because it was hard for my daughter to place her time. She would constantly cry for a snack every time I entered the kitchen and it was hard for her to grasp the concept of "not yet" or "later". 

My background is in elementary teaching and I have seen this system used in schools before with fabulous results. I bought this PECS system online and it came with the CD to be able to create your own images. Simply, laminate and add a little Velcro and you are set! We call this her "schedule" and my daughter loves it! It has been life changing when we are getting out the door in the mornings, with filling our time with meaningful activities, and with bedtime routine...not to mention that my two year old can now function fully independently without me having to say anything. If I have to get something done, I put it on the schedule and she helps me. There is no more crying at night time or when it's time to go potty. She simply goes to her schedule, puts the picture up at the top and proceeds to do the activity. When she is done, the picture goes in the "finished" box at the bottom and she grabs the next activity from the top of the list. I have even made coordinating pictures to go along with each busy box that we have. 

 

I have made up a notebook to hold all of the picture cards. I've even printed ones for family members when we are planning to visit them that day. Lylah gets so excited when she sees her "Gamma" on that day's plan. This system has been so great in keeping an organized home. It even reminds me to plan fun activities for my daughter...and I can add my chores to the list so we can make sure to get them done! I highly recommend! 

Here are some examples of some of the pictures we have printed: