Friday, December 6, 2013

Project: No-Sew Toddler Quiet Book Page Idea - Grocery Shopping

Quiet Books for Toddlers are truly genius ideas and are sure to be well worth your time! I created a no-sew version for my daughter that you can find here. Below is one of my page ideas. For other ideas, scroll to the list at the bottom of the post!


Grocery Shopping Page


This one just came to me when I was brainstorming ideas for pages my daughter would like. She is my Grocery Shopping Assistant, and she loves to play with all the fruits and vegetables in her play kitchen. I made it so you can still see the items when they are in the grocery cart (like in real life). I ended up using Velcro for holding down the cart, which turned out to be a good idea - it is easier to get the items out of the cart by just removing the cart itself.



Other Quiet Book Page Ideas:

Project: No-Sew Toddler Quiet Book Page Idea - Counting Train

Quiet Books for Toddlers are truly genius ideas and are sure to be well worth your time! I created a no-sew version for my daughter that you can find here. Below is one of my page ideas. For other ideas, scroll to the list at the bottom of the post!

Counting Train Page


I found a great counting train at And Then Comes L. And since Bugga is pretty much obsessed with trains (er, "choo-choo"s) AND just learned how to count to 10, this was a perfect fit.



Other Quiet Book Page Ideas:

Project: No-Sew Toddler Quiet Book Page Idea - Go Team!

Quiet Books for Toddlers are truly genius ideas and are sure to be well worth your time! I created a no-sew version for my daughter that you can find here. Below is one of my page ideas. For other ideas, scroll to the list at the bottom of the post!


Go Team! Page


This page is near and dear to our family's hearts - we are huge college sports fans! For undergrad, my husband went to Auburn, and I went to Georgia Tech. So of course there is a lot of emphasis on our school's mascots, football, and anything related...like this page! Obviously, your version can use any teams or sports that are important to you and your family!



Other Quiet Book Page Ideas:

Project: No-Sew Toddler Quiet Book Page Idea - Merry Christmas

Quiet Books for Toddlers are truly genius ideas and are sure to be well worth your time! I created a no-sew version for my daughter that you can find here. Below is one of my page ideas. For other ideas, scroll to the list at the bottom of the post!


Merry Christmas! Page
After making the Let's Get Dressed page, I noticed on the same site that has the dress-up dolls (Babalisme) also has some Christmas-themed outfits for the dolls. With Christmas coming, it was perfect timing. I also added a Christmas Tree and decorations to prepare Bugga for her first year of helping out with our family tree.



Other Quiet Book Page Ideas:

Project: No-Sew Toddler Quiet Book Page Idea - Make A Face

Quiet Books for Toddlers are truly genius ideas and are sure to be well worth your time! I created a no-sew version for my daughter that you can find here. Below is one of my page ideas. For other ideas, scroll to the list at the bottom of the post!

Make A Face Page


While searching for clip art online I came across a lot of facial features, so I thought it would be fun to do a Potato-Head-style page where Bugga could make different faces. I actually ended up not using a lot of the accessories I created because I ran out of space on the two pages (head- and hair-pieces sucked up all my space!). If you want to use more than I have, make your face shape smaller so the accessories don't take over.



Other Quiet Book Page Ideas:

Project: No-Sew Toddler Quiet Book Page Idea - Happy Halloween!

Quiet Books for Toddlers are truly genius ideas and are sure to be well worth your time! I created a no-sew version for my daughter that you can find here. Below is one of my page ideas. For other ideas, scroll to the list at the bottom of the post!

Happy Halloween! Page


I started this book right before Halloween, so I couldn't NOT have a jack-o-lantern page (I LOVE Halloween). I tried to keep this from being remotely scary, but I'm not quite sure if I succeeded? No complaints from Bugga anyhow.

(Sorry about the blurriness - I just noticed!)


Other Quiet Book Page Ideas:

Project: No-Sew Toddler Quiet Book Page Idea - Apple Picking

Quiet Books for Toddlers are truly genius ideas and are sure to be well worth your time! I created a no-sew version for my daughter that you can find here. Below is one of my page ideas. For other ideas, scroll to the list at the bottom of the post!

Apple Picking Page


I found the idea for this page on Intentional By Grace. It's a pretty basic page, but is more like a game than some of the other pages I made. It is also great for counting and basic math, once your kiddo is ready.



Other Quiet Book Page Ideas:

Project: No-Sew Toddler Quiet Book Page Idea - Let's Get Dressed

Quiet Books for Toddlers are truly genius ideas and are sure to be well worth your time! I created a no-sew version for my daughter that you can find here. Below is one of my page ideas. For other ideas, scroll to the list at the bottom of the post!

Let's Get Dressed Page


I found a dress up page at Playing House. This is something new to my daughter so I renamed it "Let's Get Dressed", but I'm sure the dress up days are coming! The doll and clothing printables are available at Babalisme and they are super cute. There are a few different dolls available, and fortunately one had similar features to Bugga so I used that one specifically.



Other Quiet Book Page Ideas:

Project: No-Sew Toddler Quiet Book Page Idea - Match Colors

Quiet Books for Toddlers are truly genius ideas and are sure to be well worth your time! I created a no-sew version for my daughter that you can find here. Below is one of my page ideas. For other ideas, scroll to the list at the bottom of the post!

Match Colors Page


I found the idea for this page from Playing House. You can use a variety of shapes and sizes, but I have two pieces in each color to match to the colored squares.


Other Quiet Book Page Ideas:

Project: No-Sew Toddler Quiet Book Page Idea - Stop, Slow, Go!

Quiet Books for Toddlers are truly genius ideas and are sure to be well worth your time! I created a no-sew version for my daughter that you can find here. Below is one of my page ideas. For other ideas, scroll to the list at the bottom of the post!

Stop, Slow, Go! Page


I got the idea for this page from Playing House and Intentional By Grace. This is a very basic stoplight page that teaches what each of the colors mean - pretty self-explanatory!


Other Quiet Book Page Ideas:

Project: No-Sew Toddler Quiet Book Page Idea - Match Big & Small

Quiet Books for Toddlers are truly genius ideas and are sure to be well worth your time! I created a no-sew version for my daughter that you can find here. Below is one of my page ideas. For other ideas, scroll to the list at the bottom of the post!

Match Big & Small Page


I found this page's idea on the blog Playing House. I made sure the only difference between the matches was the size so my daughter could focus on the task at hand.




Other Quiet Book Page Ideas:

Project: No-Sew Toddler Quiet Book Page Idea - My Name Is

Quiet Books for Toddlers are truly genius ideas and are sure to be well worth your time! I created a no-sew version for my daughter that you can find here. Below is one of my page ideas. For other ideas, scroll to the list at the bottom of the post!

My Name Is Page


I got this idea from the bloga Playing House and Intentional By Grace. Bugga is at the perfect age to start learning about letters, and what is more important than the letters in her name?!?



Project: No-Sew Toddler Quiet Book Page Idea - Drive to School

Quiet Books for Toddlers are truly genius ideas and are sure to be well worth your time! I created a no-sew version for my daughter that you can find here. Below is one of my page ideas. For other ideas, scroll to the list at the bottom of the post!

Drive to School Page


The idea for the Drive to School page was inspired by a Car/Truck page I found at the blogs Teacher Mode and Intentional By Grace. In my version, your child can drive a car or a school bus from the house to school. I also included a little laminated "pocket" to tuck the vehicles in when they aren't in use so the don't get lost. You could also use a Matchbox-size car or something similar to have a more 3-D effect.



Other Quiet Book Page Ideas:

Project: No-Sew Toddler Quiet Book Page Idea - Match Shapes

Quiet Books for Toddlers are truly genius ideas and are sure to be well worth your time! I created a no-sew version for my daughter that you can find here. Below is one of my page ideas. For other ideas, scroll to the list at the bottom of the post!

Match Shapes Page


I got the idea for this page from the blogs Playing House, Intentional By Grace and Teacher Mode. What I made a point to do for each shape is that the pieces are identical in shape only, so that should be the easiest way to match them up. I labeled the shapes as well, which is irrelevant for my 2-year-old, but will come in handy when she's older.


Other Quiet Book Page Ideas:

Project: No-Sew Toddler Quiet Book

We have a bad habit of not getting around to taking a family vacation until it's really cold just about everywhere. And I like a WARM weather vacation. Which means we have to travel pretty far to find warm temperatures. We have gotten in the "habit" (I love this habit) of going to Hawaii for the past three years, starting with my Babymoon for Bugga. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Hawaii, every part of it. But getting there via long airplane flights, while crossing over several time zones with my toddler, can be worse than a root canal.

This time I was determined to stress about the flight as little as possible. I typically travel with a certain collection of things to entertain my daughter during the flight, hope that we don't run out of ideas - and this time was no different. I did some searching and came across the idea of making a Quiet Book. I was not in the mood to lug out the sewing machine right before my trip, so I looked for some no-sew ideas that could be made faster. I took a couple ideas from various blogs, and then made them my own. I was also then inspired to create some other various pages that I thought my daughter would enjoy.

Below are the general directions for how to create your No-Sew Toddler Quiet Book, with links to separate posts about each of the pages I created so you can see them in detail if you want.

This ended up being a fun treat for Bugga on the plane, and it bought us about 30 minutes of entertainment. Now that we are back from our trip, I plan on keeping this book in the nursery to only be brought out when I am home alone with Bugga and my newborn (3 weeks to go!) and I need some toddler quiet time.


No-Sew Toddler Quiet Book



Materials Needed:
  • 5 1/2" by 8 1/2" Mini Binder
  • Various craft paper in a variety of colors and patterns
  • Laminating machine and laminating sheets
  • glue dots
  • paper trimmer
  • scissors
  • Velcro dots
  • hole punch
  • computer/printer/printer paper as needed
Instructions:
  1. Pick a page to start with. The nice thing about the 3-ring Mini Binder is that you can always add and remove pages, so you can tailor your books to different children, focus on seasons for holiday-related pages, etc.
  2. Determine if you need one or two pages for each page's theme.
  3. Cut one or two background pages depending on Step 2 using the paper trimmer. Trim them to 5 1/2" by 8 1/2" using the craft paper. Cut out colored shapes, letters, decorations, people, etc. - whatever is relevant to your theme. If you do not have the right color paper, or want a specific design, a quick internet search for free images can provide you with great icons that you can then print and cut out for your pages. You can also use a basic drawing software program to create your own.
  4. Separate pieces between those that are part of the scene/background, and those that will be the interactive components.
  5. For the pieces that are part of the scene/background, put together the scene using the glue dots. Once finished, laminate the pages(s).
  6. For the pieces that will be interactive (separate from the background) laminate them and then cut out each piece with scissors, careful to leave a slight amount of clear laminate around the edges of each piece.
  7. Attach Velcro dots to the back of each interactive piece. Place matching Velcro dots on the background scene where applicable. You might need more scene Velcro dots than you have interactive pieces based on your design. Be careful to use the same type of Velcro across the scene so all the interactive pieces can be used all over the page.
  8. Align the page with the three rings in the binder to mark where the holes should be. Use a hole puncher to add 3 holes to the top/bottom of the pages as applicable. Place the page into the binder.
  9. Create the rest of your pages. Don't forget a cover page that can slip into the binder plastic (no laminating necessary).
  10. Extra step: I added Velcro to the back outside corners of each page when in the binder to attach the back of each page to the back of the next. This keeps my kiddo from landing on a bunch of backside pages that have no activities. The Velcro allows you to constantly change around the order of the pages, no problem!
Looking for some ideas on what to do for each page? Here are mine:

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Activity: Winter Playdough Development Fun! (With Printables!)

I have been swamped lately with all the crafts I am doing for both Bugga's Big Girl Room and the nursery for #2 (posts to come, I promise!), but in the midst of it all (and while currently 35 weeks pregnant), I am hosting a playdate this coming week for our little group of kiddos. I racked my brain to come up with something easy, and landed on PLAYDOUGH!!!! Who doesn't love playdough? Even the little ones can have fun squishing it in their hands!

I have a great recipe for homemade playdough that Bugga and I have used ALL THE TIME and lasts forever. I will post that soon too.

This post is about activities you can do WITH the playdough!

Now obviously, the kiddos are free to build whatever they want with the dough. For the playdate specifically, I am not about to run out and buy (like I have the time anyway) all the play-do accessories they have in stores that "help" kids play. Instead, I plan on using playdough mats!

These are a GREAT idea! 

The problem I found is that I didn't like the ones I was finding on the web, so I just made my own! And I included the links below so you don't have to do the fruitless searching either! Now, so you are aware, these are winter-themed, since we are in Canada and it is currently dumping snow on us every weekend. I will likely have posts in the future with other themes.

All you need to do is print out the PDF files, laminate the pages, and tape them down to a table - let the fun begin!


Download the Snowflake Playdough Worksheet here.


Download the Snowman Playdough Worksheet here.


Download the Snowy Hill Playdough Worksheet here.


Download the Tree Playdough Worksheet here.