Color Matching Fine Motor Busy Bag

Kids love busy bags.  They can be created to meet a child’s interests while boosting learning and fine motor skills.  This Color Matching Fine Motor Busy Bag is a fun way to play and build skills this summer.

We created a fish and ocean themed busy bag in preparation for our summer plans of visiting the beach with family. Kids can use this busy bag activity to match colors and improve fine motor strength.  It would even be a great travel activity for a trip to the shore! Looking for more busy bag ideas? Here are a bunch that kids will love.

Color Matching Fine Motor Busy Bag

This fine motor activity is very simple to put together. I was able to use what we had in the house to quickly create this activity that provided hours of play.  We kept our color matching fine motor busy bag out on a small table and kids can play with it throughout the day.

You’ll need just a few materials to make this busy bag:

• Blue felt
• Corrugated cardboard (pull one side off)
• Colored paper
• Scissors
• Colored clothes pins

Start by pulling off one side of the piece of corrugated cardboard. You could use a large piece for a floor activity or a small piece of cardboard to make the activity into a lap activity.  The cardboard will become the sand for the beach.

Next, cut a piece of blue felt to fit the size of the cardboard.

Use construction paper to cut small fish shapes.  You will want the fish to match the colors of the clothes pins for this busy bag.

You are ready to play!  Place the blue felt on the cardboard.  There is no need to glue the felt down.

The layered felt and cardboard will be clipped together with the clothes pins and when they are unattached, they provide an opportunity for kids to use bilateral coordination to hold the felt to the cardboard.  Bilateral coordination is a motor skill that is required for tasks like clothing management and scissor use.

Scatter the fish around on the blue felt.  Clip the clothes pins to the edge of the felt and the cardboard.  Kids can then use the clothes pins to pinch up the fish and clip them to the side of the board.  Be sure to show your kids how to match up the colors of the clothes pins to the same colored fish.

Fine Motor Busy Bag

Pinching the clothes pins is a fine motor skill tool.  Kids need fine motor activities like pinching clothes pins to build the small muscles of their hands. This strengthening activity that builds hand endurance and arch development of the hands. Both skills are important for pencil grasp and endurance in coloring.

Ocean Themed Busy Bag

Are you off to the beach this summer?  Make this busy board before you go and take it along on the car ride.  It’s a great way to keep the kids occupied and learning for long car trips!

Love the idea of making busy bags to keep kids learning and engaged? Here’s more fine motor busy bags to try!