• About
    • Work With Me
    • Contact Me
    • Privacy Policy
  • New? Start here!
  • How To Budget
    • Ways to Save Money
    • Set Up A Budget
    • Stick To A Budget
    • Budget Printables
  • Easy Meals
    • 15 Minute Meals
    • Easy Lunch Ideas
    • Meal Planning
  • Home Organization
    • Home Management
    • Save Time
    • Home Routines
    • Home Management Binder
  • Make Money
    • Work From Home
    • Side Jobs
    • Money Making Apps
    • Hobbies That Make Money
  • Shop
↑

The Busy Budgeter

A balanced life for busy people!

  • Work with Me
  • Contact
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Shop
  • How to Budget
  • New? Start here!
  • Home Organization
  • Make Money
  • Easy Meals
    • 15 Minute Meals

Cheap Dollar Store Busy Boxes.

By The Busy Budgeter | 2 Comments | This post may contain affiliate links

89 shares
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Yummly

This is a guest post from my friend Kristen who created the most amazing busy boxes I have ever seen.  Like most of us, Kristen was looking for creative ways to keep her kids active and engaged in learning once school was out and summer began.

A bit of research on Pinterest, a trip to the dollar store and $60 later…Kristen created the most amazing busy boxes equipped with fun and exciting activities that the kids loved! 

If you’re looking for some activity ideas to keep your kids learning all summer long, these busy boxes are an incredible budget buy and a fun way to make that happen.

Update: I know how stressful finances are right now with stay at home orders and the pandemic. I also know that I’m uniquely qualified to help you. I’ve helped hundreds of thousands of people get out of the paycheck to paycheck cycle (after trying and failing for years), by teaching them how to work with their unique personality to actually stick to a budget. 

I’m giving you access to the insanely popular 90 Day Budget Bootcamp for FREE. Because I know that this program will change every aspect of your life. Take a look around. Because this is the LAST DAY you will ever sit around worrying about money. Let’s get to work.

Join the 90-day Budget Bootcamp for FREE here… 

 Here’s what Kristen had to say…

Digital Learning has finally ended (thankfully!).  But, I still wanted at least one activity each day to give my kids a break from their screens.  Plus, I needed an incentive to get my oldest child to read or practice his math facts.

I researched daily summer calendars, busy boxes, subscription boxes, etc. and could not find anything simple enough to stick to, that wouldn’t require a lot of prep work, or be affordable enough to provide daily activities for a month. 

So, I took a few ideas off Pinterest, put on my mask and headed to the local Dollar Tree.  An hour and a half and $60 later, I came home with enough items to make 20 activity boxes for my 8-year-old and 4-year-old boys.

This was equal to one activity a day for a month.

Exact shopping list for our busy boxes…

The Basics

  1. Five clear storage containers with lids.  Label each container M, T,   W, TH, F.

     2.  Pre-K flashcards – Letters and Numbers (1 set of each)

3.  1st-2nd grade flash cards – Money (1 set)

4. 3rd-grade flash cards – Multiplication (1 set)

Build It  

Wood Shop Kit (1 race car, 1 sailboat)

Puzzles (1 – 100-piece puzzle, 1 – 48-piece puzzle)

2 Foam Glider Planes

Marshmallow Towers (1 bag mini marshmallows, 1 pack toothpicks).

Create It

Paint a Piggy Bank (1 race car, 1 frog)

Canvas Painting Kit (1 underwater scene, 1 dinosaur scene)

Pop Outz Color and Play Activity Kit (1 TMNT, 1 Transformers)

Activity Book (1 Learn to Draw Dinosaurs, 1 Paw Patrol color/activity book)

Race It, Grow It, Dig It

Grow your own aquarium (2 packs each for a total of 4 sea creatures each)

Grow your own crystal (1 kit each)

Race It – 1 Hot wheels car each and 1 pool noodle each (cut pool noodle in half to create a race track to race Hot Wheels cars, and

Dig It: 2 packs of mini dinosaur figures, freeze in a container of water overnight and allow kids to chip at the ice to remove dinosaur figures.

Glow It & Fly it

Glow Stick Finger Rocket (2)

A Glow stick Cyclone flyer (2)

Glow Stick Ring Toss Game (2),

Kites (2)

Water It

Water Sling Shooter (2)

A Water Balloon Toss Game (1 pack water balloons, 2 colanders) One kid 1 holds colander over his head while kid 2 tries to throw a water balloon into the colander, switch. Keep going until all water balloons are used.

Water Balloon Pinata (1 pack water balloons, a plastic bat, string) tie water balloons to string and take turns trying to break the balloons using the bat.

Sponge Ring Toss (3 packs sponges, chalk) Use chalk to draw circles on concrete.  Assign point values to circles. Cut each sponge into 4 pieces.  Wet the sponges and aim for the chalk circles.  Add up scores.

And that’s it.

These busy boxes are really just learning boxes that are fun, exciting, and engaging.  Win/win/win.

You can find more cheap activity ideas here…

What’s in your Busy Box?

FTC Disclosure of Material Connection: In order for us to maintain this website, some of the links in the post above may be affiliate links. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we use personally and/or believe will add value to readers

Filed Under: Budget, Budget

Comments

  1. Digital Transformation Services Company says

    June 30 at 3:25 am

    Thank you for sharing such a valuable article. It was so informative and helpful and the article was very useful.

    Reply
  2. [email protected] says

    July 6 at 6:47 pm

    Haha, those are some fun ideas for the nephews! Thanks.

    How long did the gliders last? 🙂

    Reply

Tell me what you think! Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

Recent Posts

Best RV Gifts For Dad on Any Budget.

Best RV Gifts For Dad on Any Budget.

May 19th, 2023

No thumbnail available

My favorite $10 gifts ideas...

May 5th, 2023

Best Home Popcorn Machines for Any Budget.

Best Home Popcorn Machines for Any Budget.

April 24th, 2023

100+ Unique & Thoughtful Gifts For People With ADHD.

100+ Unique & Thoughtful Gifts For People With ADHD.

March 3rd, 2023

Free 2023 Printable Goal Calendar And Workbook

Free 2023 Printable Goal Calendar And Workbook

February 4th, 2023

Busy Budgeter Inc. is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Ready to save a TON of money?

Get step by step budget help with the FREE 90 day budget bootcamp!

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

  • How To Budget
    • Ways to Save Money
    • Set Up A Budget
    • Stick To A Budget
    • Budget Printables
  • Easy Meals
    • 15 Minute Meals
    • Easy Lunch Ideas
    • Meal Planning
  • Home Organization
    • Home Management
    • Save Time
    • Home Routines
    • Home Management Binder
  • Make Money
    • Work From Home
    • Side Jobs
    • Money Making Apps
    • Hobbies That Make Money
Copyright ©2023, The Busy Budgeter. All Rights Reserved. Contact [email protected]. Privacy Policy
Design by Pixel Me Designs