Activity bags: the inside story

We've just returned from visiting family in Suffolk and, as usual when we go on a trip, my children took with them a few prized possessions and some things to do in an activity bag - a doing bag, as my auntie would have it. Bud and Daisy are getting so grown-up that they're now very keen to - and quite capable of - deciding what to take all by themselves. 

There are lots of reasons why we always pack an activity bag if we're going on a trip. It can: 

• break the ice if meeting new children
• be a conversation starter between a child and a grown-up friend 
• provide a safety net, if a child is shy
• be a source of inspiration for a child to find something to occupy themselves
• be a comforting link with home
• be the perfect 'boredom buster', for long journeys, time in a queue and the like
• an alternative - for parents - to handing over the smart phone

The contents of our two activity bags are quite an accurate and, I think, sweet insight into Bud and Daisy's interests and personalities at the moment.

Here's what I found in Daisy's bag:

1. travel comb and brush

2.Easter chick

3. lip balm

4. mini horses and jump

5. fairy wand

6. bangles

7. felt tip pens and a pencil

8. writing and drawing paper

9. line and pattern-faced die

10. book - The Queens' Knickers

11. fairy doll

12. glittery nail polish

Here's what I found in Buddy's bag:

1. playing cards

2. racing car

3. chess set

4. whoopee cushion

5. Woodstock soft toy

6. drawing and writing paper

7. pencil case

8. Lotus Esprit (from the Spy Who Loved Me)

9. remote-controlled Batmobile

10. two Formula 1 cars

11. two audio books: The Enormous Crocodile and Winnie the Pooh

12. three books - two Mr Gums and Diary of a Wimpy Kid