WFMW -The busy box and the busy shelf

My kids are young still- Princess is 4 and Super Boy is 3, So our Mom I'm bored moments are usually when I am either on the phone, trying to have a quiet moment,cooking, or some other task that needs my attention . You know the days when you seem to have a million calls to make and the temptation is to set them in front of the TV and let them watch PBS Kids all day because you can feel LESS guilty if it is somewhat educational right? WHEEEEEWWWWWW What a sentence!
Well in a stroke of desperation/ inspiration I came up with the idea of .... Drum roll here... The Busy Box! Which has evolved into the Busy shelf :) Inside the original Busy Box you will find three or four of the following: a small chalk board and chalk (dollar store), coloring books and SPECIAL crayons ( they are no different but are special because they are in the Busy Box) , Magnets, A 88¢Wal-mart Magna doodle wannabe, homemade Goop , a couple of cheesy hand puppets, Lacing cards, 88¢ Wal-mart silly putty wannabe or homemade silly putty , stencils and small dollar store toys. I usually rotate the busy box items about once every week or so. Now, as I said, this eventually evolved into an entire BUSY shelf-, which contains the tub of play dough toys with homemade play dough, Leap Frog Fridge phonics, some homemade folder games (free ideas on line) , read along books on tape and a cheap tape player with HEADPHONES, activity bag games* and some Mom approved videos. These items can only be used with permission or at my ummm "suggestion" :) Whenever I announce "THE BUSY SHELF IS OPEN" , you would think it is Christmas at the Acosta's. It usually assures me about an hour of time and sometimes more to be able to finish my task without interruption. There are three rules: YOU must share ,YOU must clean up the one item before taking another and NO FIGHTING.
The Busy shelf works for me.

*e-mail or include your e-mail with your comment and I will share this :)

Visit Rocks in My Dryer for more ideas.