Coffee Cups and Crayons

Simple play ideas, learning activities, kids crafts and party ideas, plus acts of kindness for kids!

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Kindness
  • Busy Bags
  • Science Experiments
  • Free Printables
  • Shop
    • Cart

February 26, 2014

Rainbow Lacing Busy Bag

456 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet

Get ready for some fine motor fun! This rainbow lacing busy bag will keep preschool kids busy while sharpening their fine motor skills.

Rainbow Lacing Busy Bag! A colorful way to develop fine motor skills. )

Lacing Busy Bag Supplies:

  • cereal box
  • colored ribbon (stiff ribbon is harder to weave)
  • screw driver
  • hot glue gun
  • markers

For the base of the busy bag I used the front of a cereal box, but any type of no-corrugated cardboard would work.  I originally tried making it with the thicker corrugated cardboard and it was too difficult to get clean enough holes to weave through.

Rainbow Weaving Toy for Preschool

I drew a rainbow with markers on the cardboard and used the screwdriver to poke holes along the lines.  I cut any big pieces that were sticking out off with scissors.

How to Make a Lacing Busy Bag

I wrapped the ends of the ribbon with paper tape to make it easier to thread and laced it through the rainbow.  I made sure there was extra ribbon at the tape end and then hot glued the other end to the back of the cardboard.

Rainbow Weaving Busy Bag

My preschooler loves it and played with it all afternoon! Which is a very good thing because if your follow me on Facebook you may have seen that my first version was a total craft fail–way too complicated and hard to use.  I was very happy that this version was a hit!

Each month we host an online form of a busy bag swap with our  Busy Bag of the Month Series!  Carolyn from The Pleasantest Thing also made a rainbow busy bag with pom poms–I can’t wait to print and make it for my kids!

More Busy Bag Ideas:

  • Cat in the Hat Play Dough Math Mat
  • Fine Motor Weaving Busy Bag
  • Lady Bug Math Busy Bag
  • Pool Noodle Building Busy Bag
  • Busy Bags for the Kiddos! Pinterest board

About Megan Sheakoski

Megan is the creator of Coffee Cups and Crayons, a blog full of simple fun and learning. She believes that kids’ activities don’t have to be complicated to be fun and that learning is better with play.

Teach Kids to Think Like Scientists
Color Scavenger Hunt {free printable}

Comments

  1. Nicole Franklin says

    February 26, 2014 at 8:23 pm

    Love it! I’ll take 2 🙂 this version is perfect!

    Reply
    • Coffee Cups and Crayons says

      February 26, 2014 at 8:26 pm

      WAY easier than what I was trying to do for an hour!!!

      Reply
  2. Jenny Russell Melrose says

    February 26, 2014 at 8:23 pm

    So cute and smart! Love this!

    Reply
    • Coffee Cups and Crayons says

      February 26, 2014 at 8:26 pm

      Jenny I almost lost my mind trying to make this today and simpler was WAY smarter! Thank you!

      Reply
  3. Shaunna Evans says

    February 26, 2014 at 9:05 pm

    Ooh, I love this!

    Reply
    • Coffee Cups and Crayons says

      February 26, 2014 at 10:12 pm

      I have never had a harder time making a craft work so I so appreciate it!!! Thanks Shaunna!!!

      Reply
  4. Dyan Robson says

    February 26, 2014 at 9:22 pm

    Pretty!

    Reply
    • Coffee Cups and Crayons says

      February 26, 2014 at 10:10 pm

      You are totally making my day!!!! TY!!!

      Reply
  5. Stephanie Pugh Haass says

    February 26, 2014 at 9:37 pm

    Gorgeous!

    Reply
    • Coffee Cups and Crayons says

      February 26, 2014 at 10:11 pm

      Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! It made my day that she sat and played with it so many times this afternoon.

      Reply
  6. Sherri W. Chenery-Hagymas says

    February 27, 2014 at 8:04 am

    Love this!

    Reply
  7. Kim Byers @ the Celebration Shoppe says

    February 27, 2014 at 10:54 am

    Such a fun idea! Pinning!

    Reply
    • Megan Sheakoski says

      March 1, 2014 at 3:45 pm

      Thanks so much Kim!!!!

      Reply
  8. Gabriela gammo says

    February 27, 2014 at 12:06 pm

    I love this idea! We usually buy lacing kits at the dollar store, but they are pretty flimsy and only have a few holes. I’m going to make some of these. 🙂

    Reply
    • Megan Sheakoski says

      March 1, 2014 at 3:46 pm

      Awesome Gabriela!

      Reply
  9. Heather G. @ Golden Reflections Blog says

    February 27, 2014 at 1:33 pm

    This is SO awesome and I love that it is super easy to make! Those are always the best activities!! Pinning!

    Reply
    • Megan Sheakoski says

      March 1, 2014 at 3:46 pm

      YES!!! Easy ones definitely are the best!!! Thank you!

      Reply
  10. Melissa Klinker says

    February 27, 2014 at 3:38 pm

    omg – LOOOOVE this Megan!!!!

    Reply
  11. Coffee Cups and Crayons says

    February 27, 2014 at 3:38 pm

    Thank you Sherri and Melissa!!!!

    Reply
  12. JDaniel4's Mom says

    March 3, 2014 at 6:25 am

    This is just gorgeous! What a fun fine motor activity!

    Reply
  13. jessica says

    March 4, 2014 at 3:17 am

    oh! this is fun and super clever. can’t beat a rainbow really. they are completely joy inducing. I may need to make a few for my class! thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  14. Rebecca says

    March 16, 2014 at 4:58 am

    I love this activity. So great for practicing colours and fine motor skills.

    I’ve featured this on The Sunday Showcase this week: http://www.herecomethegirlsblog.com/2014/03/16/rainbow-activities-toddlers-young-children.html

    Reply
    • Megan Sheakoski says

      March 16, 2014 at 10:29 pm

      It has been a favorite around here!

      Reply
  15. Ala says

    January 19, 2015 at 8:32 am

    Thank you for your post! Great idea! I will try it with my toddler as well.

    Reply
  16. Ala says

    February 24, 2015 at 5:55 pm

    This idea is amazing, I think that my 21 months toddler will love this. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  17. Kristine says

    March 14, 2016 at 5:27 pm

    Sorry, this may be a dumb question. But is this more of a touch and feel busy bag since it’s all laced and glued together, so a child cannot take ot apart?

    Reply
    • Megan Sheakoski says

      March 20, 2016 at 7:53 pm

      Not a dumb question at all! The kids actually lace and unlace the rainbow themselves–only one end is attached. 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

AWESOME IDEAS MADE EASY!

So you can have fun and still have time to finish your coffee!

Join over 10,000 parents who use our newsletter to connect with their kids through fun activities even when they're short on time.

Megan from Coffee Cups and Crayons

Looking for Something?

  • About
  • Copyright and Terms of Use
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Disclosures
  • My Account

Copyright © 2025 · Website Design By Jumping Jax Designs

456 shares