We call it ‘busy work’ at our house.
Busy work – a fine motor activity that keeps little hands busy and little minds engaged.
It’s one of the best ways to redirect wildness, and to focus on something a little calmer. It’s perfect for when you don’t have lots of time to start, or patience, or when things are going to hell in a hand-basket and you need to change the tone, fast!
Geoboards are one of our favourite ‘busy work’ activities.
We don’t have a commercially made geoboard but that doesn’t stop us from enjoying them.
When the rain set in this afternoon we made our own super simple DIY geoboards with peg boards, plastic pegs, and rubber bands.
Noah worked on his fine motor skills and spatial awareness as he added the pegs and then the bands to create random shapes and patterns.
Morgan had to think hard about how to arrange the pegs and bands to make the letters in his name.
This simple DIY geoboard kept both boys quietly engaged on and off all afternoon.
There are lots of ways to make a DIY geoboard and endless ways to play with them.
I’ve collected some of the best DIY geoboard ideas, as well as some great activities, and free printables.
20+ Geoboard Ideas, Activities and Free Printables
DIY Geoboards
- Make a DIY Geoboard from Twodaloo
- Quick and Easy Homemade Geoboard from Little Bins for Little Hands
- DIY Geoboard with Fabric Loops from Crayon Box Chronicles
- DIY Outdoor Geoboard from Carrots are Orange
- The Easiest Homemade Geoboard from Babble Dabble Do
Fun Twists on a Standard Geoboard Design.
- Crazy DIY Geoboard from Picklebums
- Pumpkin Geoboard from Danya Banya
- Geoboard Trees from Fun-a-Day
- Geoboard Bath Mat from How Wee Learn
- Constellation Geoboards (with a free printable) from Babble Dabble Do
- Muffin Tin Geoboard from Next Comes L
- Geoboard app for computer or tablet more information from iGame Mom
Geoboard Ideas and Activities.
- Number and Letter Sequencing from An Every Day Story
- Play and Learn with a Homemade Geoboard from Frog in a Pocket
- DIY Geoboard Maze from B-Inspired Mama
- Cork Board Letter Puzzles from No Time for Flash Cards
- Geoboard Light Table Play from Where Imagination Grows.
- Geoboard with a Twist (great idea for young toddlers) from Powerful Mothering.
Geoboard Free Printables.
- Letter Cards Free Printable from Making Learning Fun.
- Number Cards Free Printable from Making Learning Fun.
- Simple Free Printable Shape Cards for a 5×5 board from Just For Daisy.
- Free Printable 5×5 Shape Cards from File Folder Fun.
- Geometry Task Cards for Geoboards (for older kids) from Keen on Kindergarten.
Do you have a geoboard?
What’s your favourite way to play with a geoboard?
Below are some affiliate options for buying mosaic pegboards on Amazon. We have a set similar to the Fantacolor portable set. If you buy through one of these links I get a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Oh cool! I used to play with those when I was a kid – what a neat idea!
Thank you for including our Fabric Loop Geoboard! Great post with the printable too!
Great list of activities! Thanks for including us!
Where can you buy the plastic geoboard pictured.
The plastic board in the pictures is not a geo board as such but a peg board like this one from Amazon – http://amzn.to/1LQjuAN (affiliate link) – we just added rubber bands to the set.