Afternoons In: Snapdragon Educational Busy Bags

Disclaimer: We were gifted a Snapdragon Educational Busy Bag in exchange for our honest review.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, my little guy goes to preschool and is accustomed to “table toys” for morning and afternoon activities, or invitations to play. I had noticed Snapdragon Busy Bags on Instagram and thought they were really cute, and was excited to have the chance to have my three year old take the Coloured Image Sorting bag for a test drive. Check out our review below, plus a little bit about Michelle Wilson, the creator of Snapdragon Busy Bags, and a special discount code for our readers at the end!

I set up the Coloured Image Sorting bag for toddler on the dinner table for when he woke up from his nap. The bag contains 11 different coloured hexagons, each with six images of the same colour. Each image has velcro on it, so the child can stick the images on the correct colour wheel. I chose three or four colours to begin with, took off all of the pieces, mixed them up and waited to see what toddler would make of the situation. He was excited and immediately knew what to do, and was very proud of himself as he completed one colour wheel at a time.

In addition to being a colour matching activity, I love that there are other more subtle opportunities for learning in this busy bag. First, we can use the images to learn new words. Toddler’s mental word bank is extensive, but there are lots of words left to learn. For example, the purple card has a cabbage, plum and eggplant on it, all words that he’s still unfamiliar with. You could also make a game of sorting the images into categories. There are lots of different coloured crayon images, foods, animals, and other categories that the child can sort for.

I love that the busy bag is totally travel friendly as well. They’re great for popping into your travel bag to pull out while waiting for a meal at a restaurant, or for on the tray table on an airplane. We’ll definitely be taking ours on our upcoming trip (if it’s not kaiboshed by Coronavirus!). The length of time the busy bag will keep little one busy depends on their attention span. My little guy worked away at it for 15 mins in one sitting, and about 10 mins in another sitting. However, as his attention span grows, I’ll add more of the colour cards to make the activity more challenging for him.

Being activities for young hands that aren’t always the gentlest, I can already tell that Snapdragon Busy Bags are extremely good quality. The cards and pieces are laminated, and the velcro is rock solid. There are no signs of wear and tear after a few uses, unlike other activities like flashcards and puzzles that don’t hold up so well with toddlers!

I scrolled through Michelle’s online store and there are so, so many great options for busy bags based on your little one’s interests and capabilities. The prices are very fair given the quality and amount of play the child will get out of each bag. I asked Michelle a few questions so you can get to know her and her products better!

My toddler loves his busy bag!  What inspired you to come up with Snap Dragon Educational Busy Bags?

As a home childcare provider (11 years now) and former graphic designer (7 years) I am always creating fun activities to help children learn. Seeing how much fun the children in my care had playing with their busy bags all while learning at the same time showed me that there is a need for these in every home and primary school classroom.  I have a passion for creating and helping children learn and discover so Snapdragon Busy Bags brings my 2 passions together.  At the very basic level even if 1-2 year olds are developing and exercising their fine motor skills when manipulating the Velcro pieces.  My middle child was diagnosed ADHD last year and has a very poor working memory, for her visual learning is key.  These busy bags help to reinforce her school learning at home in such a way that she sees it as a game rather than instructional learning.

What bags to you recommend for various ages and stages?

For 2 and under I recommend the image, shape, and colour matching busy bags.

Ages 3 - 4 Preschoolers, you are looking at the theme bundles, Memory games are a very big hit with this age group, any of the song busy bags, or patterns.

5 and up - I have alphabet Image matching, Word  Family Train, Telling time, Popcorn word matching

On the website I have categories for...

Toddlers and Preschoolers

Classroom (Jk- grade 2)

Michelle has generously offered a discount for 10% off your entire order using the code BusyBags10Blog until March 31, 2020 at midnight. Please go check out her online store— you’re sure to find something that your little one will love and learn from! You can also find Snapdragon Busy Bags on Instagram @snapdragonbusybags or on Facebook.