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No Mess Busy Bag Ideas for 2 Year Olds

May 19, 2014 by Nadia van Zyl 32 Comments

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One of my dear friends is about to have a baby, whoohoo! The challenge for her is that her 2 and a half year old is full time at home too, so I thought it a good idea to make her these busy bags to keep her occupied while mom is nursing the baby.

9 Busy bag ideas

It is essential that these activities would be easy enough and mess-free, since mom won’t be able to assist big sis while busy nursing, so I have thought hard about what to put into the bags. Most of the activities can be done over and over again, and some items could be used in different ways. (PS: see THESE ideas for your 4 year old!)

busy bags

1) Peg the same coloured craft stick to the same coloured peg.
This aids in fine motor skill development and colour matching skills. Easy to make yourself: colour the pegs with felt tipped pens(or paint them) the same colour as the craft sticks.

Coloured pegs ans sticks

2) Egg carton and pipe cleaner construction.
Sticking the pipe cleaners in different ways into the holes make for interesting construction activity. Also good for fine motor skills, and creativity. Make it yourself by poking holes into a egg carton and providing different coloured pipe cleaners.

Egg carton and pipe cleaners

3) Pompom Play
See more on this activity(and how I made it ‘Travel Safe’) here.

Pompom play

4) Thread a bangle
Using pipe cleaners and beads for this activity, assuming she won’t attempt to eat the beads;) Great for fine motor skills and the beads could provide the opportunity for colour matching, counting etc. too!

Beading

5) Stickers on a toilet tube roll
I remember my daughter looooved stickers at this age! We have flip files full of stickers she stuck over and over again. This is the only activity that will only keep for one use. Make it yourself by making marks on the toilet roll where the stickers must go.

TP roll and stickers

6) Buttons!
I’ve made her this card to use together with the buttons. Here are more ideas on how to play with buttons.

Buttons

7) Simple Shape puzzle with craft sticks.
These are so easy to make: draw shapes/pictures on two craft sticks so that it will fit together again.

Shape Puzzles

The last two ideas are coming from a blogging buddy of mine, Nicolette, over at Powerful Mothering. Pop over to see more awesome ideas on her blog!

8) Bottle cap matching game.
Simply turn the caps upside down and play the memory game with it: guessing where the “friend” is. Make it yourself by sticking foam stickers on the inside of bottle caps.

Matching game

9) Craft foam threading shapes
Cut shapes(or use pre cut pictures) and make holes around the shapes/pics. I’ve attached tooth picks(sharp points cut off) to yarn to make threading easier.

Foam shapes

Mommy could keep these busy bags close to her nursing chair, and each time she is busy with baby, Big sis can choose a special bag to play with. This will help her to not feel left out when mom is busy with the newborn, and mom has her hands free to focus on nursing.

All 9 bags

I’ve placed each activity in it’s clear bag, that way she doesn’t have to open each bag to see what is inside when choosing. They all went into a pretty gift bag as a “present” to her, making her feel special too!

busy bags

Get this special BUNDLE offer where you can get all 3 Fun Felt Busy Box Ideas ebooks(that is 30 ideas!) and save!

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Bundled Special Offer


Be sure to check out these busy bag ideas too: A-Z of Busy Bags Series
Ocean Felt Busy Box
Garden Felt Busy Box
Rocket Name Puzzle
Farm themed busy box– perfect for spelling, matching and fine motor skills!

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Filed Under: Busy Bags, Gifts, Kids Activities & Crafts Tagged With: 2 year olds, busy bags, mess free

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Comments

  1. Sanette says

    May 19, 2014 at 1:35 pm

    Nadia, you are just amazing!!! So gifted! Appreciated you so much!

    Reply
    • Nadia van Zyl says

      May 20, 2014 at 12:19 pm

      Thanks Sanette! Hope Lene enjoys it;)

      Reply
  2. Theres Just One Mommy says

    May 20, 2014 at 6:49 pm

    Love busy bags, and I LOVE the idea of using them to help big sis not feel left out!

    Reply
  3. Victoria Els says

    May 24, 2014 at 7:00 pm

    Do you make bags for 3-4 year olds that you sell?

    Reply
    • Nadia van Zyl says

      May 24, 2014 at 7:05 pm

      I could if you are interested Vicky?

      Reply
  4. Dolly Jarusiewicz says

    June 8, 2014 at 12:38 am

    Thank you for all your ideas!!!!!!!

    Reply
    • Nadia van Zyl says

      June 8, 2014 at 8:55 pm

      Glad it’s helping;)

      Reply
  5. Ang Johnson says

    June 9, 2014 at 8:20 pm

    These are so stinkin adorable! Love’m! Shared, liked and pinned!

    Reply
    • Nadia van Zyl says

      June 11, 2014 at 9:49 am

      Thanks so much Ang!

      Reply
  6. Deb says

    June 15, 2014 at 2:41 pm

    Thanks so much for sharing these ideas – great for a gift idea for the young child when your friend has just had a baby or for your own children! You have inpsired me to get a few of these ready for while we travel in the car or need to wait for doctors appointments etc!!

    Reply
    • Nadia van Zyl says

      June 15, 2014 at 9:39 pm

      Thats great Deb! Have fun!

      Reply
  7. Jenni says

    July 25, 2014 at 5:01 am

    Hi Nadia,
    Where did you get the clear zippered pouches? I’ve been using ziploc, but would love something more durable without paying the price of a pencil pouch. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Nadia van Zyl says

      July 25, 2014 at 3:06 pm

      Hi Jenni, unfortunately these bag are ones I kept for a time, originally another craft product came in it:(

      Reply
  8. Cheryl says

    October 17, 2014 at 2:52 am

    Love this idea! Will definitely be trying some of these with my 2 year old, and I’ve shared this link on my blog. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Nadia van Zyl says

      October 17, 2014 at 6:01 pm

      Great! And thank you!

      Reply
  9. rezvan) says

    January 4, 2015 at 12:26 pm

    wonderful Ideas
    cant wait to platy these games with my daughter:)
    ( a mom from Iran)

    Reply
  10. Hayley says

    August 26, 2017 at 10:22 pm

    What an amazing friend! I wish I had someone in my life who would have made these for my daughter when her sister was born one week after her second birthday! You’ve really inspired me to make some of these for her when I get the chance (bubba is just 4 months so I have my hands full!) thanks for your post! Xx

    Reply

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Hi! I'm Nadia! A teacher and a mommy of two, who loves to be creative and share easy activities you can do at home with your kids too! Read More…

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