I made this quiet book for my son, Evan, on his third birthday. I wanted something different from the average quiet book with zippers and buttons. I had a ton of felt left over from another project, so I made my book from that. I suggest making it out of something else if you plan on washing it. Each page is a 9 inch square sewn back to back with another page. I bound them together with large eyelets and binder rings so I can add more pages later.
The “Dress Me” two-page spread is customized for my red-headed, blue-eyed little boy. I plan on making one for my daughter later. My favorite part is the little hooks on the front of his fireman outfit.
The “What do I eat?” and “Where do I live?” pages took the longest, but they are my favorite. The animals are attached to little bits of Velcro and move between both pages.
This page is also customized to look like our family. Evan loves to pull the little people out and play with them. Each of the flaps close with snaps to practice those fine motor skills.
These pages have a dual purpose. Right now, Evan really loves the matching game (although he does like to cheat), and Tic-Tac-Toe will be more appropriate for when he is a little older. Please excuse my embroidery on these, I am still learning. 🙂
This page is probably Evan’s least favorite. The flowers come off the buttons, but he can’t put them back on. Maybe he will like it later. At least it looks pretty!
The fishing page is still a work in progress, but I thought I would post a picture of it anyway. My original idea was to put the magnet inside the fish, and a paperclip on the rod, but the magnets I bought were too weak. As is, there is a paperclip sticking out of the mouth of each fish. Evan still enjoys it, but mommy is a perfectionist and it will hopefully be fixed soon.
The barn and mailbox page templates can be found here at homemade by jill. She was actually the inspiration for making my quiet book (and crafting for that matter). I had to make them a bit smaller for a 9×9 page, since her book is a bit larger. My kids both love the finger puppets and the working mailbox.
val says
my dear friend, I can honestly say that this is the NICEST Quiet Book I have come across in the whole of Blogland. I shall keep it in my Specials and work on it for my Grandson for when he is 3. :0) Thank you for sharing so generously.
I hope you have a moment to pop in on me at my blog and enjoy your visit as much as I have at your little blog home.
May you have a truly creative 2011.
Val xx Oxfordshire UK
Bel says
what a great idea!!!
I love it and am going to make my baby sister one for this Christmas!! However what do you mean when you say the flowers come off the buttons?
Love Bel xx
Guernsey GB
Jessica says
The buttons are sewn on and the flowers have a slit in them so the child can practice using buttons. My son is now 4 and finally figured out how to put them back on.
Nancy Bandzuch says
This is beyond wonderful! what a lucky kid that gets this book!
Thanks so much for bringing this to the oldie’s party!
Nancy Bandzuch says
Stop by the oldies party this week–you were featured!
lemondedis says
c’est amusant : je retrouve là des similitudes avec des “livres” que j’ai créés !… malheureusement, tous offerts et plus de photos suite à un problème d’ordinateur (4 ou 5 ans de photos perdus : une horreur !!!), mais quelques bébés devant arriver cette année, je vais en recréer… pour l’instant, j’ai posté le lien sur Pinterest : http://pinterest.com/lemondedis/idees-pour-les-p-tits-chatonx/