Craft Lightning: DIY Tangrams for Busy Bags

Children have short attention spans, especially toddlers. You can't really blame them, eat-sleep-play-repeat can get boring and so can having to sit in a waiting room for 30 minutes. That's why you have to mix things up and introduce them to challenges that help them explore new ideas and ways of thinking. 

Busy bags are small, play items that travel easy, and usually require an element of problem solving, or even imaginative play. Those last kind are my favorite. They're also painfully easy to make on your own, like these tangrams. Oh, and since this is a Craft Lightning project it takes less than 15 minutes to make! 

Following the instructions in the video, you'll have one set of Paper tangrams. I used them as a template and made a few more sets out of different colored sheets of crafting foam.  

Once you have your pieces cut out you can either go rogue and see where your imagination takes you, or you can do a quick search on Pinterest and find a host of puzzles to recreate. 

I love that these foam shapes are washable, durable, flat for packing, and look at all that color! 

With Easter right around the corner we looked up rabbits and found four different ways to make a bunny. Can you think of any more? 

What kind of shapes and patterns will you create? 

This project is part of the Craft Lightning Busy Bag Series; click on the image below to be taken to one of the host sites. 

All week long, they'll be sharing more crafting busy bag ideas that take 15 minutes or less to create!