The older two boys are taking guitar lessons and the younger three children and I sit in the back of the room and listen.  I needed something to keep them quiet, and in one place, for an hour, so that we don’t disturb the music instructor.  I decided to make a busy bag, and I will post a story about it here. 

One of the items in our busy bag are these foam puzzles from the Dollar Tree Store.  These were each $1.  I purchased a capital letter set, a lower case letter set, a number set, and a clock set. 

These puzzles have been a great activity for quiet busy work! I will also be using these in our workboxes at home.  We have successfully used them for 3 of these quiet one hour music lessons so far!  It takes the children about 20 to 30 minutes to work their way through all four puzzles.

First, my toddlers poked out the foam puzzle pieces.



This is a lot of fun to push out the pieces and gather them into a pile. 



Then the process of matching up the shape of each letter to its corresponding spot got under way. 

I was really impressed that even though they don’t know their letters, or the alphabetic order, they were more than able to match up the shapes of every single piece.  Who knew a toddler could do this? 

They are two and three years old, and I truly thought when I bought these puzzles, that I would be explaining each and every letter and where to place them.  And that learning experience will still come in a different setting.  But in this setting, where we were required to be quiet, I just let them play with the puzzles, somewhat expecting to have a mixed up mess on my hands when we were done.  But that is not what happened at all. 

The kids took their time, and worked quietly with each piece until they found the exact spot it belonged.  Wow!



When they were done with one puzzle, they rotated and got the next puzzle. 



They worked completely independently.  They worked quietly.  Wow!



Are you a mom who has rowdy toddlers, and you are afraid to take them into situations where they must be quiet? 

Give this experiment a try!  Build a busy bag with fun quiet activities, using items like these foam puzzles.
I think you might be amazed, as I was, just how quiet the children can be.

These puzzles are colorful, educational, and great skill builders.  During this quiet time the kids worked on eye hand coordination, sorting, matching, fine motor movements, sensory of touching the shapes of the letters and numbers, and strengthening.

If you don’t have to keep quiet, then you can also discuss the colors of the puzzle, match the capitals with the lower case, spell their name, match the pieces to a printable with letters, trace the letters, put them in alphabetical order, numerical order, and so much more. 

But we had to be quiet, and this worked out perfectly.



Question:
What activities do you do with toddlers to keep them quite?  Leave your comments and have a great time discovering what works for you.

Be Blessed!


This post will be linked up with:
Link & Learn
ABC and 123
Sharing Time