Step by Step Guide to Making an Activity Wallet

 

 

These wallets can be fun to make but can also be overwhelming unless you plan ahead.  Some wallets can be constructed with a theme in mind by including your child’s favorite character.  You may also want to theme the wallet for specific words or sounds that you’ve been working on in therapy.  The wallets in this demonstration were made with two themes in mind:  animals and “PAW Patrol”.  There are other items included also but mainly animal themed.

 

 

Activity or Sensory Wallets can be customized to each child’s individual play or sensory needs.

Here are some items that you might consider getting for a sensory wallet:

1. ribbon
2. feathers
3. Velcro
4. variety of fabrics
5. felt
6. sand paper
7. faux fur pieces
8. pom pons
9. foam sheet, cut into shapes
10. finger puppet animals or plastic animals
11. stickers
12. variety of papers

 

For an Activity Wallet, you may want to also include:

1.  crayons or colored pencils
2.  flash cards
3.  beads and string, for older children
4.  ‘go fish’ or ‘memory’ playing cards with fun pictures
5.   sticks with Velcro, for building
6.   small Legos, for older children
7.   snacks
8.   lacing card

I purchased all of my goodies at Target and Hobby Lobby.  I had many of the items already, as I do lots of crafting, but you can find all of these items fairly easily!

The Wallet

Firstly, you want a wallet with the MOST pockets and hiding places as possible!  Trust me!  Once you start collecting all of your goodies, you will be happy that you have lots of little hiding places to put all of those stickers and feathers!

These beauties can be expensive, but they don’t have to be.  Check the back of your closet or an old purse.  Who knows, you just may find one!  If not, you can shop a thrift store or do what I did and go to your local Target store!

If you are looking online, I would suggest searching for a “travel wallet”.  That will take you to the great wallets that have lots of pockets.  To be honest, when I went shopping, I started to get a little worried because spending $15 or more for a wallet was not in my budget.  I wanted to spend the money on the goodies inside but thought I could find a quality wallet for under $5.  Guess what?  I did!  I looked in the clearance section and found 4 of them that would work nicely.

They were all originally over $14 and I got 3 of them for $4.48, and one for $8.48.  I was very happy with my purchase and now I have two extras for when I want to make more.

If you’d like a wallet with more pockets, you can find some online.

The Goodies

Stickers

I bought stickers that come in sheets so they can cut easily and nestle into the credit card spaces of the wallets.  Don’t forget to include little pieces of colored paper for the stickers to adhere to.  I also included a few colored pencils and crayons in my wallets too.

Cut them into individual stickers.  Make sure you have lots of extras for the next outing or for the car ride home.

Foam stickers are fun too, and add another sensory element especially when they are glittery!

Feathers

Feathers are a fun sensory item and you can find them in a variety pack with differing sizes and colors.  I found these at Hobby Lobby.

Flash Cards

If your wallet has large enough pockets, you can use these cards.  My wallets could hold them, but they would have taken up most of the space.  I opted to buy small playing cards in the birthday section of Target instead of using these flash cards that I already had.

Playing Cards

Head over to the birthday section at Target.  Because these playing cards were meant to be used in goody bags for birthday parties, they are small and fit nicely in the credit card sections.  They came in a package of 5 decks for $5.  They fit my theme well and I used only a few cards from 3 different decks, giving me pictures of a variety of animals:  forest animals, sea life, and dinosaurs.  You will have a lot left over but this is a good thing.  When they fall between the seats in the car or get lost at the airport, you will have extra in your bag to hide away more goodies when your child isn’t looking!

The dinosaur cards are great too, because they not only label the names of the dinosaurs, but they also provide cards showing the dino tracks.  The birthday section also has lots of other little goodies meant for take-home bags that can be used.

I found some online that might work well too!  Make sure you pay attention to the size of the cards and your wallet to make sure that they will fit!

Family Photos

I love using photographs for my activities with my kiddos.  You may want to cut out pictures from a magazine or coloring book and laminate them.  Make some copies of family photos to include in your child’s wallet too.  It may encourage them to practice saying their names.  Don’t forget pictures of your family pets, familiar people, teachers, and therapists too.

Plastic Animals

I, again, found these boxes of very small animals in the dollar section at Target.  The boxes had 7 to 9 animals each and cost $3 a box.  Of course when searching for items, be aware of what is safe for the child you are making the wallet for.

Here are some more options you can find online.

I love these little puppets that I found at IKEA.  These were the only items that I included that were bought at a store other than Target or Hobby Lobby.  You may instead include small felt animals if you can’t find finger puppets.  I do think that these are great for little ones though because they encourage some fine motor skills and encourage kiddos to ask for help when they can’t do it themselves.

Ribbon or Fabric

Hobby Lobby sells a variety package of ribbon.  This is so convenient because you can use it for so many crafts.  It’s perfect for labeling colors, and can also be used for stringing beads if needed.

Many fabric stores also sell “fat quarters” that are used for quilting.  You can get a variety of patterns all bundled in one little package.  Hobby Lobby usually has these on an endcap in the fabric section.  I have also seen these at Walmart and Joann Fabrics.

Extras

Velcro Bracelet

These are Velcro straps that are used for keeping wires from tangling. They can also be used as a child’s bracelet.  If your child doesn’t tolerate wearing it, it’s big enough for an adult to wear too.  The adult could wear it while your child takes the little animals on and off.

They are slightly scratchy but nothing like typical Velcro.  It sticks to itself so no other buckles or snaps are needed.

Here’s what you need:  Velcro straps, sticky Velcro dots or strips, and foam beads or other light weight items.

I had these tiny foam beads from a previous craft, and they work perfectly for this.  They are super light and squishy, great for little fingers to take off and put back on again.  I have also used these to Velcro to small sticks as well.  Again, these are really small so please use caution with those kiddos.

I just cut the sticky Velcro into tiny pieces and adhered the rough part to the beads.  That’s it!  They stick to the bracelet and can be used over and over again.

Foam Shapes

I cut shapes out of the thin foam sheets and then punched holes with my regular hole puncher.  I was so excited to discover that my Creative Memories circle-cutter cut these circles! (I know, it doesn’t take much!)  If you buy the thin sheets you can also cut triangle and squares with a paper cutter.   You can also purchase foam shapes but many times they are stickers and for this project I didn’t want them sticky.

You can buy these in a package or individually at Hobby Lobby.  I prefer the very thin sheets for this project because they fit in the wallets better, but the thicker ones will work too.  I have also found foam sheets at some dollar stores.

I used shoe laces for my project but you can use ribbon as well.  I cut my laces very short to make the activity safer for little ones.

Now you have all of this stuff left over!

I bought this bag filled with goodies and added to it.

All of the left-overs plus colored pencils and crayons all fit into this bag.  I found it in the dollar section of Target for $3.

So now my wallets are full of little goodies to be discovered and played with.

Keep a bag of the extras to add to the wallet as needed.

Continue to check out party stores, convenience stores, craft stores, and your junk drawer for any little goodies that you may want to include the next time.

What’s in Your Wallet?  (Am I allowed to say that?)!

Have fun and please let me know what you included!

 

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