Button Snake Busy Bag

I'm participating in a busy bag swap with some friends from College Station. Basically there is 26 of us and we are each making 26 of one activity bag. Then we'll swap them out and end up with 26 different activity bags for our kiddos. Here is a blog post I wrote up for my activity, Button Snakes.

My name is Erin and I have two little boys, Cade, 2 years old and Carter, 4 months old. I blog about life with 2 small boys at Mosier Madness.

Here are some more fun facts about our family..
How do you spend your free time?
Free time? What's that? :) When I do get some down time I enjoy reading, crafting and spending time with my husband, Matt

When you were a child, what was one of your favorite ways to spend the day?
I am the oldest of 4 children. On a normal day you could find us playing outside or dancing around the living room in dress up clothes.

Fondest memory with your mom as a child?
My mom is a piano teacher and taught me how to play from a very young age. I always enjoyed playing with her.

What does special time with your children look like?
We love to do things as a family! Go on walks, movie nights, and one on one Mommy or Daddy dates.

Favorite outdoor activity with your kids?
Going to the park or swimming

Favorite blog for children's activities/crafts/parenting?
Confessions of a Homeschooler
Totally Tots
1+1+1+1

A favorite tradition that you want to pass down to your children?
Fall Family Fun Day! We pick a day in October, visit the pumpkin patch and have a day filled with all kinds of fall food and fun.

Now onto the busy bag...

I was assigned this example of Button Snakes. I thought this was such a great idea and could be used with many variations.

For my button snakes I cut out 3 different shapes (circle, triangle and square) and used 4 different colors of felt (yellow, orange, green and red). I divided the felt pieces 10 per bag as follows:
Yellow-square, circle, triangle
Orange - square, circle, triangle
Red - Square, Circle
Green - Triangle, Circle


So for 26 bags I cut out 260 shapes. When divided by shape and color it was 78 squares (26 each of yellow, orange and red), 78 triangles (26 each of yellow, orange and green) and 104 circles ( 26 of each color).

I also included a 12in piece of ribbon with a button sewn on one end and a loop on the other end to hold the shapes on the ribbon.

Here's the breakdown of the materials I used to make 26 bags
1. 1/2 yard of felt for each color ( it was on sale for $2.99/yd)
2. 2 rolls of ribbon ($3,99 each)
3. Bag of buttons ($4.99) I found these in the scrapbook section of Hobby Lobby

So my total cost ended up being about $19. Not bad for 26 bags, especially since I'm going to receive 24 other activity bags in return.

This activity is great for teaching little ones how to button a button. Once they get the hang of doing the button you can vary the activity by having them button only certain shapes or colors.

Cade wasn't interested in a photo op but here is sweet Sawyer working on the button snakes. Since Cade and Sawyer are only a bit older than 2 they need a little help with the button part, but it is a great activity for shape and color recognition.




I hope you enjoy this fun activity!!