Scarecrow Activity Bag for Kids
The kid will have a blast with this Scarecrow Activity Bag! It’s perfect for fine motor skills, and a great way to create something fun and fall-themed. Be sure to check out my other scarecrow activities for a day of themed learning and fun!
They’ll find that all the textures and pieces in this scarecrow bag are perfect for hours of creative play!
Busy bags are a phenomenal way to keep kids’ hands busy while you are waiting for the doctor, waiting on dinner, or trying to make dinner yourself at home.
They are typically super inexpensive to put together — unless you want them to have a Gucci-style busy bag — and the theme possibilities are endless.
What is the learning benefit of a themed busy bag for kids?
A themed busy bag boosts learning by blending fun with skill-building. Kids stay engaged longer when activities are connected to a theme they already enjoy.
- Promotes focus: A theme captures attention and reduces distractions.
- Supports skill development: Fine motor, math, literacy, or problem-solving skills are reinforced through hands-on play.
- Encourages creativity: Themes spark imagination, storytelling, and pretend play.
- Improves retention: Kids are more likely to remember concepts when tied to familiar topics.
- Offers independent learning: Self-directed play builds confidence.
- Connects learning across subjects: A theme can integrate colors, numbers, letters, and critical thinking into one cohesive experience.
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What You Need to Make a Scarecrow Activity Bag
The following items are affiliate links on Amazon because they may be a bit hard to find in your normal store. I wanted you to be able to see exactly which things we are using.
- Felt
- Flannel
- Burlap
- Buttons
- Googly eyes
- Sharpie
- Felt Letters
- Scissors
- Zippered Pencil Pouch
How to Make a Fall Activity Bag for Preschoolers
The reason we’re using felt, burlap, and flannel is that those materials stick to each other a little. Avoid using different materials, such as construction paper, because they won’t adhere.
Using the burlap, trace the size circle you would like with the bottom of a small bottle and cut it out. To keep the edges from fraying, add glue all around the edges and allow to dry. You can use all felt if you like for your piece,s but I like the texture that using burlap adds for the head.
Once the glue is dry, add a nose and mouth to your face with a black sharpie or paint pen, and try different expressions.
Keep one piece of felt whole to use as the background, whatever color you like, fold it in half, and slip it into the top of the bag.
Cut pieces of felt and flannel into very basic shapes of shirts, pants, and overalls, your kiddo isn’t looking for perfection so don’t sweat it too much. Add a moon/sun, bats, trees, hay bales, maybe even little bits of straw from yellow felt. All three of the different fabrics will stick lightly to each other, making a great travel flannel board or paper bag scarecrow craft (even though it’s not in a paper bag).
Add buttons and googly eyes to your bag.
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Finally, I like to “sneak” in an educational aspect, even if your child is not quite ready for spelling words, adding letters to spell out scarecrow, fall, pumpkin, etc, will at least help them become familiar with letters and how they combine to create a word.
Have them identify each letter of the word, make the sound of the letter, or match the letter with the beginning sound of each object on the flannel board.
Once that’s all in there, seal the bag closed and put it somewhere you’ll remember to grab it on the way out to the next adventure, where the little one might need an activity to keep curious hands busy.
Fun Ways to Use this Fall Busy Bag
While using a busy bag is pretty straightforward, that doesn’t mean that the kids can’t branch out for more learning fun. Here are a few other ideas to extend the theme:
Scarecrow Shape Sort
Cut out more felt or paper shapes (circles for buttons, triangles for hats, squares for patches). Have the kids match, sort, and glue them onto their scarecrow.
This builds shape recognition and fine motor skills and keeps their imagination going!
Build-a-Scarecrow Counting Game
Add small items like buttons, sticks, or mini hay pieces. Ask kids to place a certain number on their scarecrow (ex: “Give your scarecrow 5 buttons!”). This turns counting into hands-on fun.
Scarecrow Story Starter
Include a few themed picture cards (pumpkin, crow, barn). Kids pick cards and make up a silly story about their scarecrow’s adventures. This encourages creativity, language development, and early storytelling skills.
Fal Printables
The Best Scarecrow Activities for Kids:
- Scarecrow Crafts for Kids
- 50 Fall Activities for Families
- Build a Scarecrow Sensory Bin
- Build a Scarecrow Printable
Scarecrow Activity Bag for Kids
Equipment
- [Scissors]
- Craft Glue
Materials
- Felt
- Flannel
- Burlap
- Buttons
- Googly eyes
- Sharpie
- Felt Letters
- Scissors
- Zippered Pencil Pouch
Instructions
- Using the burlap, trace the size circle you would like with the bottom of a small bottle and cut it out. To keep the edges from fraying add glue all around the edges and allow to dry. You can use all felt if you like for your pieces but I like the texture that using burlap adds for the head.
- Once the glue is dry add a nose and mouth to your face with a black sharpie or paint pen, try different expressions.
- Keep one piece of felt whole to use as the background, whatever color you like, fold it in half and slip it in the top of the bag.
- Cut pieces of felt and flannel into very basic shapes of shirts, pants, and overalls, your kiddo isn’t looking for perfection so don’t sweat it too much. Add a moon/sun, bats, trees, hay bales, maybe even little bits of straw from yellow felt. All three of the different fabrics will stick lightly to each other making a great travel flannel board or paper bag scarecrow craft (even though it’s not in a paper bag).
- Add buttons and googly eyes to your bag.
- Finally, I like to “sneak” in an educational aspect, even if your child is not quite ready for spelling words adding letters to spell out scarecrow, fall, pumpkin, etc… will at least help them become familiar with letters and how the combine to create a word. Have them identify each letter of the word, make the sound of the letter, or match the letter with the beginning sound of each object on the flannel board.
- Once that’s all in there, seal the bag closed and put it somewhere you’ll remember to grab it on the way out to the next adventure where the little one might need an activity to keep curious hands busy.
