Activity Binder

I've wanted to make something like this for Brennan for quite awhile now and finally got around to it. I'm all for activities that get a busy toddler up and moving around, but there are also times when you need something to keep them occupied while sitting; like on an airplane.

We take off for the beach soon and I am hoping this binder helps keep B content while flying. He's always been a wonderful flyer, but this will be his first time sitting in his own seat, so I wanted to make it special. I'm probably jinxing the success of the whole thing by blogging about before we go, but hopefully it's a hit.

I designed the binder based on skills I know Brennan has mastered or has recently shown interest in doing. I will obviously be sitting right beside him on the plane, so it's not something he will be doing on his own (although it could be used that way too). I printed the pages on card stock and put them in sheet protectors and he will be using dry erase markers. This way the pages can be done over and over again. I put some napkins in the pockets and will have wipes with me too to help clean off the pages when he wants to redo one. The pages would be much prettier in color, but I printed all mine in black and white because I'm cheap and boring. :)

Check out the pages I have included in his activity binder. I could've added pages for days and days, but had to stop somewhere. There are so many wonderful resources out there and I've linked to each one I used under the picture.

Letter Matching- I found this one the other day and thought B would love it. I was right. He asked to do it again later in the day, so I had to print out a new one. I wasn't sure he'd be able to draw a line connecting the upper and lowercase letters, but he did great. This is the only page from his activity binder he's completed before; everything else will be new to him.

from Supermom Moments

Shape Detective- Brennan loves shapes and I liked how this one wanted you to find matching shapes, but some were different sizes or in different positions.

from Supermom Moments

Prewriting Skills- Brennan did such a good job drawing lines in the letter matching activity that I drew an X for him on a blank page and had him trace the two lines. He did it over and over and over again. So I set off to find some tracing pages for him. There are a ton out there!

from Kidzone

from Kidzone

from Kidzone

from Kidzone

I also printed a few different tracing practice sheets from this website. I need to explore the site more because it looks like it has TONS of good stuff.

from Kids Learning Station

Fall Do-a-Dots- Brennan still likes using his Do-a-Dot markers. We won't be using the actually markers with his activity book, but I thought he would still like to color in the dots on these pages.

from 3 Dinosaurs

Number Match- I made this worksheet myself since Brennan can read the number words for 1-10.

Not sure this link will work, but from ME!

Fall Match Up- I printed off these matching puzzles and put them in sheet protectors too for Brennan to pull out and work on. There were a lot of them, so I divided them into four separate groups of 8-9 pictures each so he won't be overwhelmed.

from 3 Dinosaurs

I then put a blank sheet of card stock in a sheet protector so he can just free draw whatever he'd like.

I'm really hoping he likes this binder. I will also have lots of other activities (including the ever-valuable iPad) and plenty of snacks for him on the plane too. Here's to a good flight!