We have loved busy bags at our house for years now, but I think this mix and match animals busy bag may be the cutest one that I've ever made. My boys have created many animal hybrids with this busy bag and the animals have sparked hours of creativity and imaginative play. But what I love, is that these mix and match animals are a great way to work on fine motor skills.
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To make these mix and match foam animals, I used:
- Wooden clothespins (five per four legged animal)
- Craft foam
- Permanent markers
To make these animals, I cut out a body for the animal using the craft foam. I then added details like eyes, nose, stripes, etc. with permanent markers. For each animal, I made four clothespin legs and one clothespin tail. I made three different animals: pig, giraffe, and zebra. You could easily make any creature you wanted, not necessarily just animals. Think dinosaurs for example. Here's the complete set:
When the animal's legs are clipped on, it can stand up on its own.
And you can even clip different legs onto different animals. How about that zebra pig? Or the zebra with giraffe legs and a pig tail? Cute, right?
Meanwhile, the kids are getting important fine motor practice in.
Other cool ways to play and learn with clothespins:
