Ok, there seems to be quite a few of us here on the board with littler kids. I love the idea of like a preschool activities in a bag swap, but around here there just aren't enough homeschoolers.. so I have been kicking the idea around in my head about how I can make one happen. Would anyone here be interested in something like this? You wouldn't have to buy the book (I'm thinking about it anyway... and could give ideas), there are lots of free ideas online. Here is how it would work.. everyone would have to let me know by a certain date that they wanted to participate, I would let everyone know how many are participating, each participant would pick an activity bag to make and make sure no one else has that idea up their sleeve. You would make X number of the same exact bag, you would keep one for you and then you would mail the rest of the bags out to the other participants.. one to each person (I also thought of having all the bags come to me, and I could send them out... I would have to use like flat rate boxes and have each person pay for their shipping maybe... not sure how to work that and ideas are nice ) by a set date so we would each end up with a variety of different bags. Now that I typed this up, I'm wondering if it's a dumb idea... uggggg what do you all think? By the way, many of the activities I have come across could span several grades/ages and also are pretty cheap to put together.
I'd be game. I think it might work out cheaper if, instead of each of us mailing 8 boxes to 8 families, we all mailed them to you (in one box) and then you send out the 8 boxes. Of course, if we did it that way, I'd expect to add a little cash to the boxes we sent you to cover shipping. Then again, just because it sounds like a good idea to me doesn't mean it is. lol.
At first I thought them all coming to me would be cheaper.. then I thought it might be cheaper to send out 8 manilla envelopes.. ugggg I don't know. I know we all struggle with money these days.. or at least most of us do, so I want to figure out the cheapest way for all of us.
Me, Me! I want to play I vote for sending them all to you, with some $$ included to cover shipping back to us. I would be so excited if we were able to get 6-7 of us involved so we would all have a nice little arsenal of bag activities. So fun!
They are gallon ziploc bags that are filled with an activity for little ones to do... like beads (or pasta ) and a shoelace for stringing/pattern practice, cards with numbers on them and numbered clothespins to clip on the card with the right number of dots, etc. if you google preschool activity bags you will probably come up with lots of ides, esp if you start looking at blogs! Here is one site that lists a lot of them: http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/preschool_activities.htm
Maybe. I have a Ker that needs some... activities. I'll need to look into it more and see what ideas there might be, and what I might could contribute. I definately think it would be easier, and easier to keep up with, to mail it all to you. Simplest way would probably be a flat rate box, with a flat rate stamp enclosed for the ride back. Swaps I've done in the past usually have done it that way; including a stamp instead of cash is usually a good idea, plus with a flat rate box you know how much it will cost and the hostess doesn't have to worry about making change, etc. It's important to purchase an actual stamp, and not get the barcoded stickers because those expire. It does take commitment and time by the hostess, and thus a lot of the swaps I've been in and/or hosted in the past have included small "hostess gifts" of whatever genre the giver feels led to include. Totally not necessary in most cases, but just a nice gesture of thanks by the participants because of the time and effort running a swap takes. It does take time and effort! Also, as a hostess, I've found it easier if folks do NOT hold out their own package. It's just easier to put one of everything per pile, rather than trying to remember who sent what and therefore doesn't need one of their own back, etc. The only difference this should make is shipping, and if we're using flat rate boxes it WONT make a difference even there. It just really makes the sorting easier on the hostess - trust me!! Anyway, sounds like lots of fun. If we cover a span large enough that my Ker would enjoy it, I actually need some time fillers for him to do while I work with my 1st grader. 1st grader has a small window where he's open to doing school, so I gotta get it in while I can! Ker is almost always willing to do school, but gets bored while his brother is getting all the attention. He *is* a Ker though, so I'll look into what's going on with these activity bags and see if it will be worth it for him. Cool idea! Thanks for posting!
I think it sounds neat! I have participated in many swaps and its always so fun to see what comes! I have 2 that could participate.
Pam, do what ever you can afford. The bags can be done as cheaply as it would cost for a pack of clothes pins at the dollar tree and a pack of index cards from Walmart (75 cents?) oh and some baggies. again dollar tree Then the cost of shipping, depending on how many participants we get will depend on the cost of shipping (how big of a package we will need), but we probably will be able to use a small flat rate box to and from me.. so maybe 10ish for shipping all the way around? I'm glad to see interest in this. The more I typed yesterday the more I thought you would all think I was off my rocker..lol. Remember Ladies, I won't have to pay to ship anything out... so I only think it's fair that we figure out how many, what size box and total it and divide it between us evenly. If everyone who participates has paypal, I could figure that out once the bags got to me and I could let you know the "out" cost and you can paypal the money, I have a paypal debit card I can use at the PO to pay for the shipping. Remember if you have any ideas on how to make this run smooth.. please don't be afraid to share, I have never done anything like this before, but think it sounds like fun!
Do you know when we might do this and about how many participants? I'm going out of town this weekend and am trying to get things together for the activity bags. I found so many great ideas on the internet. Even some free printables that I'm going to use for my daughter. I think I have an idea of what I'm going to do... I've seen so many neat things. Do file folder games count?
We should start making a list somewhere of what we can each contribute so we don't have overlap. I know that I'd love to start planning my contribution!
I'm gonna keep this as a gauging thread until next week.. then I think we will have a week to "sign up" and list what kind of bag you would like to make (if you need ideas to fit your budget or just need ideas let me know). I know I have heard of some swaps where someone designated exactly what bag each person was to make right down to how to write the directions etc. I don't want to do that, I'm not a dictator...lol. I think after we sign up we will have 2-3 weeks(? input?) to put them together and have a mail by date for them. So prob next Mon or Tues we will "sign up".
lol, unless i'm seing wrong you're replying to a 3 yr old post. these people have been around here that long? no wonder they know each other
