Truth be told, I’ve never loved the name ‘busy box’.  Or ‘busy bag’ for that matter.  It’s ridiculous, I know, but I think I associate both with the term ‘busy work’ from my teaching days, which to me, is basically work {often of very little value} that keeps kids busy and out of the teacher’s hair.  Not my cup of tea.  I figure that if a teacher is going to expect her students to engage in some sort of activity or work, it shouldn’t simply keep them busy {that’s a waste of time} – it should engage them, challenge them, and teach them something worthwhile along the way – right??  Well, after looking at many, many activities labeled as busy boxes or bags, I learned that most of them do all of those things.  Most of them are fun, playful, and help little ones build on some sort of skill {or multiple skills at once}.  And yes, they are easy to pull out during times when you’d like your little one to play quietly and/or independently {while you shower, during restaurant and doctor’s office waits, during quiet time, etc.}, but that’s only because you’ve taken the time to prep the fun in advance – not because they’re anything like boring busy work.  And so, because I’ve finally made peace with the term, here’s our first busy box – a LEGO patterns busy box. ☺

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