Parents, have you ever heard of a Quiet Book? Also known as a Busy Book? It is a cloth book filled with fun activities that your child can play with… quietly!
My baby girl LOVES her quiet book!
BRILLIANT isn’t it? From making different Mr. Potato Head combinations to counting cupcake sprinkles to buttoning buttons to building sandcastles, quiet books help children hone their fine motor skills, review educational concepts, and encourages creative thinking all while keeping your child busy and quiet.
Um. Yes, please. (Go HERE to make your own!)
I’m not of the “children should be seen and not heard” camp by any means, but there are just times when you need them to be quiet– at a church service, or on an airplane. Sometimes, you just want something handy to keep them busy– waiting at the doctor’s office, or when you’re visiting with a friend that has no kids and no toys and you don’t want to truck a whole bag of playthings for your little one. THIS BOOK IS GENIUS! I seriously can’t believe I’ve never heard of it before!
It all started when I was at a friend’s place and spotted a homemade felt book lying on the floor. I flipped it open to have a look-see, and inside was a felt xylophone, with removable pieces velcroed down in the colors of the rainbow. How cute!! I turned to another page and saw a colorful felt page with surprise animals hiding underneath rectangular flaps. So much fun for a little one!
I wanted one.
I asked her where she got it, and was a little brokenhearted when she said she and some other friends mass-produced pages and swapped them to make the book. I was brokenhearted because I missed the boat! But I figured Etsy would be all over this, so I went home to see how much these bad boys were going for. And then I got some serious sticker shock: $200 for a 12-page book?! FOR SERIOUSLY?! There were individual pages going for $6-30, and even though I’m not a craftsy person, I couldn’t help but think… I could make that!
So I did.
Sort of.
I decided to suck it up and put on my organizer hat (which I am decent at, but usually do not enjoy*), and sent out an email to a few mommas who I thought might be interested. Some forwarded the message to some of their momma friends, and within a day, I had 14 commits. Wow.
Wow #1: That is a lot of pages to make.
Wow #2: …WE’RE GOING TO GET 14 UNIQUE QUIET BOOK PAGES! SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!
I was super stoked! I reached out to Christy D., the original coordinator, got as much info as I could on how she organized it, and then got the ball rolling with my own group. Fast forward two months and… WE FINISHED! WE MADE 14 QUIET BOOKS!! AND THEY’RE AMAAAAAAZING!!!!
Here’s a detailed look at each beautiful page! I have no patterns for you, but you can find similar pages and patterns on Pinterest and/or Etsy. I will share how I made my felt chain links in a future post, since that was the one I did :].
*Can I just say that organizing this group of mommas was THE BEST ever?! They were so responsive, so responsible, so encouraging, and did such a beautiful job!! Everyone helped one another out, pooled resources, and wrote encouraging responses in email. I didn’t even know all of them (some were friends of friends) when we started, but I sure hope our paths cross again!
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I divided my 14 pages into two books: one for babies (0-2yrs), and one for toddlers (2+). Since they’re bound with a book ring, I can easily swap pages in and out.
I present to you my Baby Quiet Book:
Front Cover
I just sewed down some cute fabric and stitched some lines across for a quilted look. Kinda messy. That’s how I craft =P
Cars and Stoplights
The stoplights are velcro, and my girl loves to rip them off and put them back on. The car slides up and down along the white ribbon. She is still learning that it’s not a rip-off item!
Ocean Scene with Sliding Fish
Check out the detail on those sliding fish, and the detail on that stitching around each fish and through the coral and plants! It’s a beautiful page, but I’m not letting her play with it until she understands the concept of sliding–not yanking!
Sensory Jellyfish
My friend made this as part of our daughter’s 1st birthday present! Isn’t it gorgeous? Our girl loves to flip back to this page frequently to tickle (“Ticko ticko!”) the tentacles. It’s the cutest thing in the world!
Mitten with Snowball
I think these were meant to be mittens for outdoor snow play (comes with a white snowball hidden inside the mitten). Being a baker, I decided to pair it with the Apple Pie page so it looks more like a baking mitt 🙂 Babies can slip their hands in and out of these cute mittens!
Apple Pie Weaving
Also, not sure why I put this in the baby book instead of toddler, cause I’m pretty sure she won’t be weaving anytime soon… but at least it matches with the baking mitt! Not to worry: thanks to the book ring binding, I can easily move this page over to the toddler book anytime (along with the Hungry Alligator, which it is back-to-back attached to).
Hungry Alligator
I really wanted a zipper in the quiet book somewhere, so I’m really glad someone made a zipper page! Isn’t this adorbs? Babies can unzip the alligator’s mouth and put the fish into the ocean!
Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head
Felt potato heads! I love it! There are so many combinations for this! Each of the pieces had Velcro glued onto it, which was just enough to make it stick to the felt. Also, the potato head itself is a pocket, so you can store Mr. Potato Head’s pieces in there while playing with Mrs. Potato Head’s pieces! Craftwise, this page requires a lot of cutting, but works well for the person who doesn’t sew!
Sandcastles on the Beach
How cute is this? I love the details from the stitching along the water’s edge to the little starfish to the double-backed pages. The person who made this included two sandcastle sets in case any got lost. You’d think people would try to do what was “easiest” or “quickest,” but clearly the group of ladies here gave their all– even with children/babies at home (or in the belly)!
…And that was just the baby version, folks.
Here are the pages for my toddler book!
Chain Links
This was the page I made. I liked how kids would be able to get some ROYGBV practice in while also developing fine motor skills as they fastened the snaps. I also included black and white strips for parents who wanted to teach their kids how to use colors (black, white, red, green, “gold”) to teach the Gospel message. More on that in another post!
Counting Flower
Kids can practice counting with these flowers! The intricate numbers were cut out from a friend’s Cricut machine, and inside the flower pot is a second set of blue petals… just for variety. So thoughtful!
Lace-up Football
We had the option to choose a lace-up football or ballet slippers. I know we have a girl, but I couldn’t help but choose the football, because my own childhood was filled with a lot of football (and zero ballet). And I loved it that way. This is a fun way to practice tying laces! Plus, the football fabric is a super soft suede that even I love to rub!
Breezy Clothesline
This cute page allows kids to take clothes down from the line and put it into the white basket. I love the colors and multimedia!
Fancy pants!
Oh my goodness. That giraffe print. Could it be any cuter?! I also love the stitching detail throughout. The person who made it also told us we could switch the buckle to the other side, to develop both the right and left hands! Great idea!
Balloon Buttons
This was Part I of my “party pages” :). Not only are the buttons hand-sewn down, but the buttonhole is edged all professional-like and everything! Great page for button practice!
Last, but not least… drumroll please…
Counting Cupcakes
Your child counts the number of sprinkles on the (removable Velcro) frosting and matches it up with the number written on the cupcake liner! This page literally took my breath away. Why? Because, guys, each of those “sprinkles” is actually a button that has been HAND-SEWN ON. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? (1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9) x 14 = 630 BUTTONS!! And I thought my chain links were a lot of work!! C. definitely takes the (cup)cake on this one (ha ha!)!
Amazing, right? Don’t you wish you had one? (Sorry to make you covet…) I’m afraid mine is priceless, though, so you’ll just have to make your own. Not the organizational type? NOT TO WORRY! I got your back! I’ve set up a post detailing How to Make a Quiet Book with a Group of Friends, and will post it for you soon, including email templates and resources you can use to head up your own group quiet book project! I just ask that you link my site and share the Cuppacocoa love :).
I am going to send this post to all the ladies involved in the project, so please show some love below in the comments! Which quiet book page(s) did you like the most? Which details do you love? Which one(s) would your child (or… you? ;)) enjoy playing with? Do you think you’ll ever make one?
Thanks for reading, and happy holidays!!
38 responses to “I Can’t Keep Quiet About My Quiet Book!”
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I have always been amazed and inspired by you, now I’m astounded. Those pages are brilliant! Oh how I wish more little ones were put in front of a quiet book instead of an ipad to keep quiet. I truly believe there would be far less focus, learning and behavior issues in my kindergarten classroom if they were. Thanks for sharing!
Aww, thanks, Ann-Marie! I agree, forcing them to focus on activities like these is verrry different from putting them in front of technology. I appreciate your comment :].
Hi Joellen! I just found your website and it is so fun! I’m a gramma to 12 darling grandkids. The 12th one is 3 1/2, and he is going to have a new baby brother in a few months. I have always wanted to make a quiet book and have never done it. These two are most likely my last grandkids so I really want to finally make a quiet book. Your quiet books are so cute! I can’t find anywhere that you shared the patterns to the individual little pieces for the pages. Is there a way for me to get those? Thank you so much for all of your wonderful ideas!
Hi Dolly! Awww congratulations on your growing family! 12 grandkids! How fun!!
Since other people made most of the pages here, I only have links to photos that inspired them… which probably will be about as much help as my photos are here. Were there specific pages that interested you? You can also search Etsy, Pinterest, http://quietbookblog.blogspot.com/p/template-directory.html, and Google for ideas and templates. In the meantime, I tried looking up some patterns for you that are along the same lines as the ones I had.
Mr. Potato Head: http://jocelynandjason.blogspot.com/2011/11/mr-potato-head-quiet-book-pages-10-11.html
Beach scene: http://www.imagineourlife.com/2012/03/24/sandcastle-quiet-book-page/
Chain links: I’m posting something soon on this! Stay tuned! 🙂
Breezy clothesline:
http://www.popsandpodge.com/2012/06/quiet-book-page-4-do-some-laundry.html
https://docs.google.com/file/d/1oBWVqVoDahO11Lo6jfB15VoXcWDoB6A30znT1J2AMYJTfWrspohcSEKBpliS/edit
https://docs.google.com/file/d/14Y95HG1809ihgdBogitVfKqMeikKhAWgsCJWQrViMStqLvLg3A1kfCiXAnhe/edit
Counting Cupcakes:
There’s a link near the bottom of the post here for something similar: http://www.bubblesandbobbins.com/2012/05/activity-book-quiet-book.html
I don’t think I ever checked your blog to see the work you did to respond to me about quiet books. I just saw this. Thank you so much! I better get busy! Our new little grandson was born last week and his brother is almost 4. I don’t want them to get to old for the books before I make them. ha! Thanks again!
Dolly
Omg. I want one. Any chance ur group of 14 would consider making another 14 books, selling them to 14 mommas (me included please, please,please) and then donating the made money to a charitable cause? May be an idea….. ???? Make ya feel warm n fuzzy? Email me if you would consider. I think this is an amazing idea and obviously a lot of talent snd work went into it. This untalented, full-time working mom who is barely hangimg on would be ever so blessed and grateful…. think about it!!!
Hi Amanda! That’s is a very nice idea =). I’m afraid I don’t have it in me to organize another such venture just yet, but I’ll keep it in mind for the future (and definitely let you know if it ever happens =)). In the meantime, you can take a gander here. It’s pricey, but if you’ve got the money, it looks like reviewers were happy with their purchase! 🙂
O_O!!! I wish I had one when I was a kid!!! My family has complained that I make so much noise at night when I take off my processor/hearing devices… Now this makes me wonder how much noise I made when I played when I was a kid. This is perfect for any deaf/hard-of-hearing kid too, to reduce noise!
Oooh hadn’t thought of that aspect! Nice!
This is so great!
We have organized 40 ladies in our moms group and they are meeting up next week at my house!
One question- do you have a template or any suggestions for punching the holes to make it as easy as possible to keep them consistent?
We are so excited about our books! Thank you for sharing!
Ooh that is so exciting! We used the crop o dile to punch holes. You can set it at 2″ or 2.5″ or however deep you would like it to go in from the top and bottom. We also just lined the edges of our books up against the edge of the crop o dile, so it kept things consistent.