Toddler Busy Bag

I have an 18 year old nephew who is a senior in High School, so we've been going to a lot of wrestling meets lately.  With a 1 year old and 2.5 year old, it can be quite exhausting sitting there for hours upon hours in bleachers.  So...with the State Tournament coming up, I decided I had to find some new things to keep them entertained.  Here's what my toy bag consists of so far:

• Packing bubbles to 'pop'.  I had these at the last wrestling meet and they also entertained my 4 & 6 year old niece and nephew.
• Suckers (they can keep my kids sitting nicely for quite some time!) This is one my daughter begged me to buy her but mostly I just have dum dums :)
• Travel Magna-doodle (I picked the travel MagnaDoodle because although there was a smaller size different brand, I liked that this had the shape magnets which I think my 2.5 year old will love)
• Duplo Blocks with book.  It takes a little more room than I'd like but I THINK it will entertain both of the kids.
• Stickers and book to put them in
• Small doodle pad with washable crayons in a soap container
• Magic Ink pads - I got the Melissa & Doug from Target for $5.99 (couldn't find them online but you can buy them here) and the Princess one off Zulily.  The princess one has water in it, so it can be reused over and over and over again!
• Shapes printed out on cardstock with pipe cleaners to form into the different shapes (idea from See Vanessa Craft)  I printed mine in different colors and had coordinating pipe cleaners so even though my 2.5 year old couldn't quite form the shapes, she still had fun matching the colors to each other
• Lacing Cards (hand me downs from a cousin, similar ones here)
• Wiffle ball golf balls with pipe cleaners to weave back and forth (idea also found at See Vanessa Craft) I used bright orange balls because I thought it would help me keep track of them and also just be more fun for the kids.
• A small kaleidoscope for both kids bought at ShopKo
• A grated parmesan cheese container filled with pipe cleaners that I cut up.  I had this at the last meet and it WELL entertained my BUSY BUSY BUSY 1 year old boy and my 2 year old nephew and 2.5 year old daughter.  So although I was thinking I should get a smaller container, I won't because he did it until every.single.one. was in there! 
• Light saber spinny toy from either target or walmart
• And small books - like this Highlights Baby magazine
• I think I'm also going to put in: some masking tape to stick and peel up & a container to put pom poms into.  My family will also have some other great activities that I'll try to post in a future entry!

Of course we also have a Leap Pad, Ipad with games & movies and snacks/candy for emergencies.  Hopefully we'll be set!  Thankfully we can always get up and let them run around for awhile between sessions. 

If you have any questions on how I made these or have other ideas or tips for me, PLEASE share them in the comments below.

Thanks for visiting!