I am a working mom with a very active 2.5 year old and a husband who travels >50% time. This means even though I consider myself creative, I appreciate the ability to whip out a pre-packaged craft project that engages my little one without a) pre-planning/looking up ideas online; b) taking her to buy supplies (in small quantities) for similar projects; c) any consideration of weather or time of the day. Sure, there will be parents out there who take a look at the content and think it's nothing special. Well, I have two comments: 1) many of us wouldn't consider most activities for a 2-3 year old special but they are nevertheless fun and age-appropriate. 2) When my brain is fried from work but I'd rather not park my kid in front of the TV so that I can decompress, this is a fun way to spend time with my little one.
Price wise, I consider Amazon's price reasonable. I probably would have to spend more if I gather the supplies myself and would have the hassle of dealing with all the leftovers.
Personal reasons and pricing aside, I am actually quite impressed with the quality of the stuff inside. The quantity for each project is either good or on the generous side. Everything is bright/colorful and printed on quality paper. The projects create surprisingly little or no mess. All age appropriate -- some clearly require a longer attention span than my kid has or greater dexterity. That's ok; I help her with some stuff or let her finish the project in a couple of sittings. I can also try to challenge her, making up related stories/asking her decoration preferences while we do these projects and encourage her to keep at it a little longer to expand her attention span. These projects would work best for 2.5-4 year olds. I like the individual packaging for most of the projects. That way, I can efficiently take one out at a time w/o letting my kid sees the rest and get distracted.
There are only two things that I would change: the box came with just one instruction sheet that shows how some of the projects are put together. For those of us who like reading instruction manuals, the only way to get an idea of what the final product look like are the images on the big box. Like I said, my kid gets distracted and wants whatever she sees, so I would have preferred not to have the box in front of her (albeit with all the content removed) while we do a project. Second, I noticed that I did not get one of the projects pictured on the box but something else of the same type of activity. That's kind of a disappointment because I really like the fish tissue art instead of a star tissue art; plus, I believe in you-buy-what-you-see. I don't know how frequently Alex products make substitutions like this.
This was a worthwhile investment. I love seeing my kid getting so excited during and after finishing a project. So proud and eager to hang up her latest masterwork!
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From the manufacturer
Great Rainy Day or Party Activity
My Giant Busy Box will keep 'em busy! There's 16 great projects in one giant box of fun! Mold dough animals, collage a farm and sticker art. Decorate paper bag puppets and tissue art pictures, then frame them! Includes plastic frames, animal punch outs, bright dough colors, peel and stick tissue art pictures, tons of tissue paper, glue, and easy to follow instructions.
ALEX Discover toys, games and kits are made specifically to prepare preschoolers for their first day of school. Products to help teach your child the basic skills needed to be a classroom leader and art supplies to foster the skills necessary to impress the other kids at the craft table. All activities include easy-to-follow visual 'no reading required' easy instructions. ALEX Toys is a member of the ALEX Brands Family of products.
ALEX Discover My Giant Busy Box
Recommended for children 3 years of age and older.
Make 2 Tissue Art animals, 4 Paper Bag Puppets, 4 Farm Animal Collages, 4 Dough Animals and 2 Sticker Art Pictures!
- Includes 4 buttons, 6 doughs, 8 crayons, 2 doilies, 2 fabric flowers, 10 feathers, 4 google eyes, 4 paper bags, 6 pipe cleaners, pom pom, 2 plastic frames, 2 sticker boards,
- 2 crack and peel boards, 469 stickers, crinkly paper, 4 tissue shreads, glue stick and easy instructions.
Reviews with images
Clarification on confusion about instructions
My daughter has enjoyed Alex Brand craft kits. They can get expensive if you buy multiple small craft kits and this is a good value for as many crafts as you get. We have bought individual Alex Brand craft kits so we are aware of how Alex Brand organizes the crafts. They put all the pieces in a bag with a photo on the bag of what craft the pieces go with. This giant busy box is different. I read the reviews of people being frustrated that there aren’t instructions for each individual craft. Hopefully what I have provided will help others with the confusion of this giant busy box.There are 16 crafts and instructions for 5. Looks like Alex Brand provided instructions for one craft in each category (dough animals, sticker art, tissue art, paper bag puppet and farm animal collage) to show how to do each category- but not each craft individually as they do in their smaller craft kids. In this giant busy box, there are: (4) dough animals- Instructions for one; (2) sticker arts- Instructions for one.; (2) tissue art- Instructions for one; (4) paper bag puppets- Instructions for one; (4) farm animal collages- Instructions for one.To make things organized for us, I opened the box and determined what bag or box went to which craft and I wrote with a sharpie on each bag or box what category it was for. Once my daughter chose the craft she wanted to do, I put the rest of the unopened bags and boxes back into the original box. I have provided a photo of such.The gist is, Alex Brand provided instructions for one craft per category and assume/encourage your child to use their creativity to create the rest. I went to the Alex Brand website to see if they had additional instructions for this giant busy box and the instructions on their website are the exact instruction provided in the box. I then looked at the individual craft kits and found that you can find a craft kit box that may have the exact craft in it with the instructions on how to put it together- that the giant busy box did not provide instructions for. That is a bit time consuming, but another option as well.Hopefully my review will help out with the confusion.
