We have had the pleasure of testing some fabulous activity packs from My Busy Bots over the last couple of weeks.
It was great to be contacted by the two lovely Moms behind the business - Candice and Leanne who have a passion for children learning through play. Together they have created an impressive range of busy bags to keep children between the ages of 18 months to 8 years occupied whilst on the go and at home.
You don't need an educational background to use these packs. All activities come with a guidance cards for the adults. Sharing how to use the pack, how you can extend the activity and also what the child is learning by doing the activity.
Our packs included the following:
We were lucky enough to test out a great range of packs by My Busy Bots. All very carefully thought out to develop knowledge of colours, shapes, patterns, numbers, sorting and fine motor skills. With cards showcasing a range of designs there is something for everyone.
With packs starting from just £4 this really is a quality and affordable resource, that is completely screen free!
Lets take a closer look at a selection of the packs we have been playing with:
The Fox Sat on the Mat
I loved this set! I couldn't help but think of the children at work who would have loved having this practical activity for sounding out and making words.
Lots of children just don't respond well to writing tasks. This activity gets them physically having to thread these colourful letters onto a lace. It gets them interacting with the materials and a quick snap of a camera would capture their word building perfectly.
I shall be using this one lots with the boys over the coming months, as we start to introduce letters to them.
My daughter who is 6 and is a fabulous speller LOVED doing this activity. She enjoyed finding the letters and threading them onto the lace. She had a go at building a sentence around the word before verbally sharing adjectives to describe the item she was focusing on.
Even when a child is working beyond the CVC stage - you can still use this pack to extend it further.
The letters were sturdy and came in lovely, bright colours. I hadn't seen them before so I always love discovering news products that bring something a little different.
Somewhere over the Rainbow
Neve couldn't wait to get into this pack. It links in with her current topic at school. It's a double sided activity mat with one side being the seasons and the other being a rainbow.
On this side you look at the cards and decide which season the item best belongs. On the reverse you look at the main colour you can see in the picture and add it to the relevant colours on the rainbow.
The cards are thick so they would withstand lots of sorting. The pictures are well designed and there is a wide range to extend vocabulary too! The mat folds neatly and slides inside the bag perfectly.
Taking Shape
A lovely range of designs - under water, bugs, rockets, animals to name a few.
You use the transparent coloured plastic shapes to match the pictures. There are so many opportunities with this bag to discuss and explore shapes.
What shapes have you used? What colour are they? How many sides does the shape have? How many corners is there?
You could challenge to the children to use their imaginations to create their own shapes and pictures too! Neve went on to look around the room and see what shapes she could find around her.
We have taken this pack out with us a few times and has really kept the children engaged at the table. The boys have energy in abundance so keeping them busy is important. It definitely impacted on their behaviour as they worked together to help each other find shapes and match them to the pictures.
It was a great introduction to start talking about shapes for them.
All Shaped Up
We went to the park and towards the end when I could see they had had enough, I called them over to the table to see if they would like to do a little activity. 15 minutes they sat grabbing the different shapes and matching them to the cards.
It was interesting to me to observe what they could do independently and when they would ask for help. It was really sweet to see them happily helping each other at times too.
I loved watching their faces light up as they achieved what they had set out to do. I loved watching them celebrate each others achievements!
What a lovely way to start talking about patterns, shapes and colours. It's exactly the sort of thing the boys not only enjoy but what we can do and fit easily into our routine for quick but effective learning.
The boys will be starting Nursery very soon so it is lovely to have accessible ready made resources to explore different concepts and topics.
All of the activities are reusable so you can keep them together safely in their bags to use time and time again. I think they are particularly great if you deliver interventions at work. They are fabulous to have at home to occupy the children while you prepare the tea, or if you're out and about.
Visiting a relative who hasn't got a child friendly home? Going on a plane, train or car journey? Grab a bag to take with you! Any place, anywhere. As the activity bags are completely mess free - cleaning up is minimal.
All the hard work has been done for you! Grab a bag and you're good to go.
They are slimline and light weight so are convenient to carry around in your bag.
I had children ranging from 2 years old to 6 and they responded really well to the challenges and kept asking to do more. That speaks volumes! They genuinely had fun with the packs and felt proud when they achieved or worked together to help one another.
They would make a fantastic gift! But don't get paying full price. We have kindly been given a unique discount code for our readers which will give you 10% off your purchases! Type in - AMY10 at the checkout to receive your discount.
I have been very impressed with the variety and quality of these packs. They really are engaging activities for curious minds and busy hands! They have our tried and tested seal of approval and come highly recommended from us.
I would like to say a big thank you to My Busy Bots for working with us. It really has been a pleasure to use your resources and we will continue to do so for many years to come!
We were gifted a selection of busy bags packs and compensated for our time on this review. All thoughts are my own.
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