Plenty of us parents have been there: You desperately want your tiny tyrant to play quietly for just five minutes so you can answer that conference call/get some work done/pee without a child climbing on you. Sometimes, you just need your kid to be busy, and that’s just where the best busy boards come in.
Sure, you could do some DIY sensory crafts, or have them raid your recycling bin to get their cardboard box craft on, or even make a fort. But sensory crafts require your help, cardboard doesn’t exactly stand the test of time, and forts, while awesome, mean an hour of work for you and 20 minutes of play for them. So what’s a parent of toddlers to do?
Enter: these things called busy boards, or “activity centers,” that are basically a bunch of things to keep your kiddo occupied, all in one place. After all, you might as well admit that your house already looks like Santa’s workshop exploded, with so many different toys laying around. A busy board or activity cube can fit more activities while saving space. Genius, right? But Google them and you will be astounded by the price tags. Upwards of $300 for one of these things? No thank you. The good news is that with a trip to your local hardware store and a little bit of your time, you can DIY one yourself that will keep your toddler entertained for hours — without the crazy price tag. Plus, all of these DIYs come with step-by-step instructions, with plenty of room for personalization, and they’re all visually appealing, so you won’t mind (slash are going to brag so hard) when company comes over, because you made that. Go ahead. Flex.
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DIY Pastel Activity Cube
This completely gorgeous pastel activity cube DIY from the sister team A Beautiful Mess is to die for. A pastel dream, it includes a bead abacus, rainbow wooden stacking blocks, a bead maze, latches and locks, peekaboo windows, a magnetic alphabet, wooden wobbly animals, and spinning wooden flowers.
And I mean, look at that. I know what you’re thinking. Way out of your wheelhouse? Wrong. Barely any power tools were used to make it (you can use a drill, I believe in you) so even if your idea of crafting is macaroni necklaces, you can still do this. Hop on over to A Beautiful Mess for the full tutorial.
Sandwich Board Busy Board
This beautifully rustic sandwich board busy board props open with activities on both sides, and then folds flat for easy storage under a bed or in a closet. Featuring lots of hardware-store finds like zippers, a light switch, locks, handles, doorstops and toggles, this board has a pale blue background that gives it a very sweet accent for the black and wooden objects on the board. Table and Hearth has the step-by-step how-to.
Or skip the DIY
If looking at walls of knobs and latches in Home Depot gives you anxiety, never fear. There are plenty of Prime-able items you can add to your activity center or busy board. This magnetic maze by HABA is a great way for littles to practice fine motor control on your activity cube, or these color pegs color pictures would be great for the top of an activity center.
Pastel Busy Board
This DIY busy board from Something Turquoise is something else. There is nothing I hate more than a DIY where the instructions leave a lot to the imagination, and your finished product looks nothing like how you’d hoped. Jen from Something Turquoise walks you through this DIY step by step, complete with pictures, and even provides things she wishes she’d done differently after her toddler played with it for a few weeks (spoiler alert: stickers peel off, so go with paint!) Not only is her pastel busy board completely charming, it has some unique features she knew her kiddo would adore, like the keys, push light, chain, calculator, doorstop, mirror and bells. Head on over to Something Turqouise to make your own.
Home Depot Busy Board
Even Home Depot is getting in on the busy board action with this adorable tricolor circular DIY from the house of hardware themselves. Super simple, with only a few key features, this makes a great last-minute gift for a toddler. Plus it’s way more portable than most busy boards, so when going out becomes a thing again (curse you 2020!) this will be the perfect entertainment for on the go. Home Depot has the how-to for this little guy on their blog.
Or buy the whole board
If this is all feeling like way more DIY than you were hoping, you can still purchase a busy board for an affordable price thanks to Little Partner’s activity boards (which you could also make into an activity cube by attaching four or five of them together). There are several different boards, including a match-and-play board for developmental learning, a butterfly board, and more.
DIY Rainbow Abacus
A Beautiful Mess topped their activity cube with rainbow stacking blocks, but this DIY Rainbow Abacus from At Home With Ashley is another rainbow alternative that’s just as gorgeous and customizable. She chose pastel earth tones for her rainbow beads, but you could easily paint them classic rainbow colors, or do more than four arches — it’s totally up to you. Check out At Home With Ashley for the instructions.
On-the-Go Busy Board
Genius. Take the busy board with you with this DIY on-the-go busy board from Something Turquoise. Simple and straightforward, this busy board has none of the angles and all of the fun of a bigger busy board, with the added bonus of your toddler being able to play with it in their carseat, or highchair, or the bath if that’s their thing. I’m really loving the round boards, as they eliminate any sharp corners.
Go Mod
This Modular Board from Muro gives you all the tools to assemble and re-assemble the busy board any way your child likes. It provides a pegboard-like background for all the coolest features like blocks, bells, an abacaus, a bead maze, handles and more.
Activity Cube
This activity cube from If Only April was inspired by the tutorial from A Beautiful Mess, but decided to take it in her own direction, resulting in this playful cube that houses an Ikea bead maze, locks, wheels, and xylophone. She added whimsy with stickers and games that she customized for her daughter. Check out If Only April for the how-to, complete with lists of materials and all the features she used.
Turquoise Busy Board
This incredible turquoise busy board from Family Handyman goes for more sensory items like the shaggy duster, chain, rubber hotpad, mirror, rope and rubber sink stopper. Kids like household items more than the toys they’re supposed to like anyway, so lean into that and you can really minimize the cost for features for your board. Painting the board isn’t necessary, because Teresa chose a color scheme for her items instead. She offers a lot of tips and tricks on creating your masterpiece, so hop over to the Family Handyman for her advice.
Keep tiling
These activity tiles are also a great way to punch up your activity center or busy board, and they come in several different choices, all perfect for tiny, chubby hands. There’s a mirror tile, xylophone tile, gears tile, cloud bead tile, shapes tile, and knobs tile. They’re wooden, colorful, and really sweet; use the honeycomb tiles together or seperately if you’re searching for additions to your busy board.
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