Just a quick post. I want to share more about our homeschool conference this past week-end - but not sure I can do it justice tonight. It was wonderful! So many books and the speakers were awesome! More to come.
I wanted to share about the Preschool Activity Bags for those who may not have heard of them. I've done several swaps of this sort. Years back we did our first swap with our local FIAR group. We came up with ideas from the internet and others came up with their own. It was a lot of fun and we got some wonderful (and still used) bags.
A few years ago, a book came out that detailed how to do a swap. The instructions are clear, concise and detailed. Each person in the swap gets a list of exactly what to include in the bag down to the label of instructions on the outside of the bag! I loved coordinating a swap like this!
I hosted a swap in the fall and we had 28 participants! That was a lot of bags! We did the other book this spring and had 19 participants. I highly recommend buying the Preschool Activities in a Bag books if you are interested in coordinating a swap.
These bags make great gifts for others too! It's wonderful to have all you need for a fun activity inside the bag. No searching for miscellaneous things. Daniel has been using these in his workboxes this year and enjoys them a lot. I'm excited about having a whole new batch for him to use.
Here are the bags from our most recent swap.
I'm excited about hosting another swap some time this summer. This will be using another book from the same publisher called Science Activities in a Bag. This is geared for elementary aged children, but can be stretched to include older and younger. I'll post more on that later. If you are local and reading this and are interested in the swap - let me know. (I'm happy to do non-local, but not sure how much the shipping would be for the bags.) I think this will also be a great addition to our bags!
Blessings
Leslie
Posts
I was thinking about making some of those bags for my kids but I like the swap idea better. You have so many great ideas. I am sorry I missed you. We were so swamped with relatives coming to the convention and all.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Dawn
I have seen this idea before and am interested in trying these with my son who is low functioning. Do you think these could be used or adapted for a child with autism? It looks like each activity focuses on one skill which would be perfect if they are not too difficult or hard to manipulate.
ReplyDeleteWow, Leslie, those look so fun!! I want to come do school at your house! And I can't wait to hear more about the convention. A good on-line friend of mine was there with her family. I can imagine it was very encouraging!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Pam in SE MI
Thank you
ReplyDeleteI've heard of these now seeing the visual has helped me put it together a bit how they work. I'll look into these for my little people.
thanks for sharing
-Dusti
www.kimmelkids4.blogspot.com
I'd love to do the swap! Wish I'd known you when you did the preschool swap...that one would have grabbed my interest as well!
ReplyDeleteEmail me with info, please! :)
Kristin
This is such a cool idea. I might try it.
ReplyDeleteI do think that these bags can be used or adapted for children with autism.
ReplyDeleteI have really enjoyed these activity bags. It has been great to put in our workboxes and I love that I'm covering important skills in a fun way - and without much work on my part once the swap is over.
Blessings
Leslie
I have never done the swap before or the bags, but I would be interested in learning how!! I have a 3 year old that I will need to entertain this year during school!
ReplyDeleterobin
Greetings,
ReplyDeleteI noticed your great blog and the photos of from your Activity Bag swap! My name is Sherri MacLean, one of the authors of Preschool Activities in a Bag - www.ActivityBags.com and we would love to post your photo on our web site. We are searching for swap photos to post on our site. If that would be okay with you, could you please email me any photos you have to info@activitybags.com? Thanks you so much in advance!
Blessings,
Sherri :)
www.ActivityBags.com
"Where fun and education fit in the same bag."
Hi, I am looking into the activity bags! I would love to know how it works and where do you find people to swap? Thank You.
ReplyDeleteHi, I am looking into the activity bags! I would love to know how it works and where do you find people to swap? Thank You.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteHere's a general overview of how it works.
1. Someone (usually the organizer of the swap) purchases the book/ebook. In the book are very detailed instructions on running a swap! They really walk you through it step by step.
2. Look for participants. People interested in preK bags can be found in lots of places - friends with younger children, homeschool group, church, preschool, etc. You can ask your friends to pass the word if you want to get more involvement.
3. Once you have the participants set, you can start the swap. Each person in the swap will make one set of bags. One bag for each person in the swap. So if there are 15 people in the swap, you will make 15 of the same bags and then will get in return 15 different bags.
4. The book will walk you through setting deadlines, distributing the instructions and any other details. If follow the link in the post above, it should take you to the Preschool Activity Bag site.
I hope this helps. If you have more questions, please ask!
Blessings
Leslie
I noticed some folks asking about doing this kind of thing with Autistic kids. I have not done so, but I have done it with SPD (sensory processing disorder) kids and actually made bags this past year specific to sensory stuff. You can find ideas at http://traininghappyhearts.blogspot.com/2010/04/frugal-fridays-vol-2-sensory-and-skills.html
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