Busy Boxes for Independent Quiet Activities

If you are employed in a state that uses a registry to track professional development hours, you will be able to provide your registry ID (Stars, MOPID, Registry or other ECE ID#) after you have completed the quiz for the course. If you pass the quiz we will report your course completion to the state registry using the registry ID that you provide.

There are always little periods of time when the children need an activity, but you don’t have time for free play in centers. What do you do with those times? Consider making a stash of busy boxes to bring out so each child has their own individual box or bag with quiet, independent activities that are easy to get out and easy to clean up. This course offers the what, why and how of making busy boxes for your age group and lots of great ideas to get you started. Course length  – 1.5 hours.

The course answers the following questions:

• What is a busy box?

• Why would I want to make busy boxes?

• How do you make busy boxes?

• I have a very low budget. Can I afford to make busy boxes?

• How can busy boxes be used for children of all ages?

• How do I package them?

• I don’t have a lot of storage space. Where will I put them?

• When will I use them?

• How can I use busy boxes to make transitions easier?

• How can I use busy boxes to keep those last few children happy and engaged at the end of the day?

• How can I use busy boxes to keep my children that don’t nap happy and engaged while the others are sleeping?

Participants who successfully complete this course will:

• Be able to analyze their daily needs and determine if busy boxes would be a positive addition.

• Understand how and when busy boxes can be added to the learning environment.

• Possess the skills and knowledge to build a supply of busy boxes for their students.