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Homemade Eye Spy Sensory Bag – Keeping Kids Occupied in the Car

How to make a homemade eye spy sensory bag Simple step by step instructions.

Homemade Eye Spy Sensory Bag are the ideal quiet activity to keep little hands busy and entertained in the car, appointments, shopping and other situations required to keep the little one occupied. They are super fun, creative and an open-ended playtime for kids of all ages.

Eye Spy Bags are a small pouch filled with dry rice and tiny treasures or trinkets that kids can find by manipulating the bag so the little objects surface to the clear plastic window. Attached is a photo card of the objects that are hidden within which they can check off as they find them.

There are several ways you can make an Eye Spy Sensory Bag, some require sewing but this is our quick, no sewing required, DIY.

What you will need?

how to make a homemade eye spy sensory bag

You will need 2 zip-lock bags, 1 cup rice, masking tape and small trinkets, toys, tokens or objects.

Some ideas for small toys or objects may include; buttons, small twig, bottle top lid, shopkin toys, large beads, toy jewellery, glass gems, puzzle pieces, small figurines, small blocks, magnetic numbers or letters, foam shapes and so much more.

Let’s make

step by step guide on how to make a homeamde eye-spy sensory bag
  1. Collect a handful (approx. 10) small toys and other items. Take a photo of them, print and laminate.
  2. Place 1 cup rice and toys into zip lock bag. Add more rice if required.
  3. Fasten the zip-lock bag, insuring that all the air has been pressed out of the bag.
  4. Place the masking tape along the opening end to avoid the bag becoming open. Fold the zip lock end over and sticky tape again as shown in photo 1.
  5. Place the zip-lock bag into the other zip-lock bag with the folded end placed inwards at the bottom of the bag as shown in photo 2.
  6. Fasten the zip-lock bag (pressing out the air) and add sticky tape.
  7. Optional: place decorative washi tape around the outside (both sides) of the eye spy bag to create a kind of window for children to look through when searching for the objects (photo 3). This also helps make the bag extra strong.
  8. Attached the Eye Spy Card with ribbon or string.

Let’s Play

Eye - Spy Sensory Bag, can you find...

Some ideas:

  • Feel and manipulate the Eye Spy Sensory Bag to coax the small objects to the surface. Use the attached photo card to help find the all the items shown.
  • Use the attached photo card to define which items have not been found yet and which items have.
  • Label and name each item found inside the bag.
  • Count how many items are inside the bag. Count how many you can see?
  • Count all the blue objects or count or the yellow objects?
  • Ask questions such as: can you find any shapes? Can you find something that is red?
  • Use a timer to see how fast can you find all the things on the list?

Let’s Learn

homemade toy - eye spy sensory bag

Learning Opportunities:

  • Concentration
  • Fine Motor and hand-eye coordination.
  • Sense of pride and achievement.
  • Problem solving – overcoming challenges.
  • Language & Vocabulary: labelling and naming each object inside the Eye Spy Sensory Bag.

30 thoughts on “Homemade Eye Spy Sensory Bag – Keeping Kids Occupied in the Car”

  1. My absolute favourite family holiday destination is Dunsborough. We go there every year for our family holiday, the beaches and weather are always lovely, there’s so many fun activities for the kids to do and Busselton and Bunbury is just a short drive away for some good shopping!

  2. My husband is a country boy and so we will often drive the three hours to Deniliquin, which is where he grew up. It’s quite a long drive for kids but we have fun making up games like ‘Spot the Windmills’. 🙂

  3. Our favourite holiday road trip destination would have to be Perth. So many family and friends to catch up with. We also like trying out new parks/playgrounds each trip!

  4. My favourite road trip is to the old family farm ‘Passiflora’ in the foothills of Yarloop which has been in our family since 1890. I love the way the seasons change the landscape, the yellow flowering Christmas trees in summer, the green hills in winter and the warmth of the sun in the car during spring. The old farmhouse is now a meeting place for family get togethers, so driving there with my grandson to spend time with family is very special. We do this every Boxing Day.

  5. Albany would have to be our favourite! Its where all our family is, so what better thing to do than spend time with those we love 🙂

  6. To be honest, since having our twins 5 years ago we rarely even get a holiday anymore let alone a family holiday favourite haha! But we do try to get away for weekends every now and then to the Gold Coast which is just a few hours roadtrip for us. We have so much stuff we have to take (including the 1 measly bag we get allotted as parents !!!) that driving to holiday or getaway destinations is always easier for us.
    I always have trouble keeping them both busy at the same time so I am loving the idea of these eye spy bags and could easily tailor them to each twin’s current interests – thankyou for the inspiration!!
    Isn’t this a fantastic idea for a product? I didn’t know they were available and certainly would prove handy to avoid that awkward moment as you drive down the road and one of the 5 year olds yells out after 15 minutes that silly Mummy ‘didn’t put my seat belt on!!!’ Oh the shock and guilt of that scary moment!!

  7. Loved your post and your sensory bag with all the different ideas of how to use it. Favourite summer road trip destination…any where really, it’s just nice to be on the road and doing something different.

  8. I love taking a family trip to Melbourne, We used to do it so many times when I was a child its fun to now share it with mine.

  9. road trip to see granny and granchee
    need to be entertained its a long trip see
    Townsville to Brisbane in the car
    1200 km is so far
    cant wait to go
    even better arriving though

  10. When Mr3 was a baby he was a terrible sleeper and sometimes the only way to get him to nap was to hop in the car and drive! So I would drive up and down the mountains in the Gold Coast hinterland. Cool, dark rainforests, windy roads, little traffic. A fun drive! Now he has a baby brother and we still do the same.

  11. It would have to be Nelson bay my husband went there when he was a young child with his family now his keeping it going taking his children and better half as they say there 🎄

  12. Flinders Island! You could drive around the whole island in just one day, but there’s so many gorgeous and secluded beaches to stop at, beautiful mountains to gaze upon and kangaroos and wallabies jumping around the paddocks that you’ll need at least a week.

  13. Jessica Ashbrooke

    Love travelling to the blue mountains they are so perfect and the whole famil gets to enjoy the peace and serenity

  14. My favourite summer holiday road trip destination,
    Is Salamander Bay, it’s perfect for a family vacation.
    On it’s beautiful beaches you can relax and unwind,
    This place is quite a find.

  15. Our family summer road trip to the Melbourne Zoo to see all the wonderful animals of the world with our two young sons was our most recent one- complete with ice creams at the end of a long day.

  16. Grannys for Christmas with fam.
    She sure makes a delicious ham!
    A Buckle Me Up,
    Is a excellent safety backup,
    All parents must pick up!

  17. Driving to my parents farm, love to visit them and spend time with them, my son loves the freedom of being on the farm, and getting to do things he wouldn’t do at home, such as playing on tractors, riding horses, moving animals between paddocks.

  18. I’m glad the question was for favourite road trip destination, because the road trip itself isn’t all that great and a little too long for my liking. Driving up the coast to the Gold Coast is my favourite. I love going to the theme parks there! And having someone else to do the drive home.

  19. What could be more hip than a road trip!
    Off to the beach where we’ll not get a leech!
    Sun and sand on face, foot and hand.
    Sausages and sauce and flies of course!
    Sleep in a tent, poles a little bent.
    Scrabble at night by the campfire light.

    It’s off to Esperance we go, hitch up the trailer, buckle up the seatbelt, strap in for an 8 hour fun filled event!

  20. Every time when we go on the road trip whether it’s far or near, I’m always amazed how big this country, Australia is ( I’m originally from Japan) !!! We have not done much road trip as a family of 4, but our favourite one so far is to Denmark, south west. Lovely drive, just seeing the scenery changes to a wonderful holiday venue. Can’t wait to have more experience of ‘road trip’ with our boys, camping and all this summer!!

  21. Up to Noosa QLD! The COAST is clear so the kids can have some SANDtastic fun. And I can unwind and feel a SHADE better!

  22. lizettebonthuys

    i am a preschool teacher granny looking for easy busy bags to keep my only little girl child who stole my heart 3 years ago busy. this is a great idea. i as a teacher will only keep the cards blank and have the child color the shapes in in order to check that they really found the correct shape. i am starting on this bag today. thanks for your wonderful ideas. keep up the good work from a teacher mom granny in a small town called Walvis Bay in Namibia Africa.

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Hi and welcome to Learning 4 Kids!

Hi and welcome to Learning 4 Kids!

My name is Janice and I am an Early Childhood Teacher in Australia.

I have a strong passion and love for teaching and creating meaningful learning experiences for my students. What I love most is watching children discover in those amazing light bulb moments. I hope Learning4kids brings you some useful ideas.

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