Busy Bag - Popsicle Fun!

This busy bag is one of my personal favourite :) Not only it is easy to make, it is also lots of fun with many different angles to step up the game :) It can be used by very young toddlers, to pre-K ages which makes it a very lasting and durable game!

This is Busy Bag - Popsicle Fun! As the name suggests, it involves play popsicle and it is so easy to make! What you need are:

1) Colored popsicle (ice-cream) sticks (I found mine in a shop in Bras Basah)

2) Corresponding colored felt pieces (Daiso is good if you only want a small piece for each color)

3) Velcro - adhesive-backed (I bought mine online but it can be found in Daiso as well)

This makes for the basic bag and as your child progresses, you can easily step up the game by many different ways!

Step 1

Create a template to cut the popsicle shape. I draw freehand on a piece of cardboard and use that as a template to cut my felt pieces. I did both big and small so that I can use that as a teaching tool to differentiate size :) You can then affix the adhesive backed Velcro onto the back of the "popsicles". Depending on your Velcro, you may want to spread a drop of super glue or fabric glue to affix it more firmly as it will be taken off and on over and over again. This is how it will look like...

Step 2

Cut the Velcro into thin strips that can fit onto the popsicle sticks. Affix the Velcro onto the popsicle sticks. I usually use the rough side on the sticks and the fuzzy part on the felt pieces. Again I usually add a drop of super glue, just to be on the safe side especially if I am giving this to a young child as the Velcro pieces can be quite small (and alluring!) to a young child! This is how it will look like...

Step 3

You are actually done making the items (YES!) and next will be to teach your child how to play :)

For very young toddlers, you may want to start off with just teaching him how to stick the "popsicle" to the stick. It can be played as game of him being the ice-cream man :) This helps him learn hand-eye coordination.

For slightly older toddlers, I will start by introducing colors and teach the child to match the same colors together. Another way of stepping up here will be to include flavors of ice-cream for example, yellow = corn/banana, red = red bean, green = peppermint and blue = blueberries etc. I show my child what the actual food item look like, drawing attention to the color on the food and then the color of the "popsicle".  

A more advanced step up will be to introduce the words representing the colors. This then helps in word recognition and color association. I print and laminate the word of the color and flash it to indicate what "flavor" I want my ice-cream to be :)

This is a simple yet interesting game where older siblings can join in as well, buying the "popsicles", indicating flavors and even big or small size! We will play till he is all "sold out" where he will declare loudly "no more!" and proceed to "collect" back the popsicles :) For fun, sometimes the older sibling will pretend to get a tummy ache after eating too many "popsicles" and we all go "orrrrrr...." pointing our fingers :P

Drop me an email if you need help with any of the materials :) I will love to know how it turns out for you too if you decide to trying making it :)

Enjoy and have fun!

PS. I am thinking of making a simple card of objectives for playing and step up(s) of each busy bag. This will be made available as a free printable on my blog. Let me know what do you think of this :) Would you prefer to have a set of instructions for making it as well? Love to see your comments!