Parent Connection: The Busy Bin
Caught inside on a rainy day? Stuck at home with a bad cold? Nothing to do but the same old thing? Why not try a Busy Bin. It’s easy and it’s fun for families with young children. Here’s all you need:
- One “bin” (Use your imagination!)
- All kinds of creative and entertaining activities written on cards or papers and stored in the bin.
- Eager hands of bored child awaiting something exciting and pleasurable to do.
And here are activity ideas to get you started! Just have your child reach in a pick one!
Indoor sandbox – only use rice, oatmeal or dried beans, plus spoons, cups, jars and gadgets to fill, measure, scoop and swirl!
Cardboard playhouse – use an empty appliance box and cut out a window and a door flap. Child can wallpaper it using old wallpaper books and a big paintbrush with diluted wallpaper paste. Use a shower curtain to protect the floor or set it up in the yard or basement.
Bake – a mud pie meat loaf or make Jell-Oâ„¢ shapes that jiggle!
Cookie dough – make shapes, letters, and numbers.
Musical instruments – make them using dried beans and two paper plates stapled together. Add yarn and ribbon streamers for effect.
Sunday comics – cut out and make a picture with your own words.
Finger paint – with yogurt or vanilla pudding.
Flag – create a family flag with marking pens and an old white pillow case, and mount it in a window.
Photo album – get out the old family albums and turn the pages together.
Popcorn – pop the corn and string to make a necklace, a streamer or a wreath; or glue to cardboard in the shape of the letters of your name.
Indoor tent – put several chairs together and cover with a blanket or large cloth; gather stuffed animals of a picnic.
Masking tape roads – create roads and highways on the floor for hours of fun with small cars.
Get well cards – use paper, marking pens, and stickers to create get well cards for friends and the elderly. You might want to have children’s scissors, cellophane tape, a small stapler, and extra envelopes as well.
…..Karin Klein, Administrator, Red Hill School, Red Hill, PA.
Parent Connection Archive
The Busy Bin
Praise and Encouragement
Your Child’s Fears
Your Child and Play
Teaching Your Child Responsibility
Make a Book With Your Child
Getting Ready For School
Learning to Laugh
Learning to Eat Healthy Food
Encouraging Creativity
Stress and Children
TV and Children