I love my children. However, after a long car ride or road trip I don't always like them. Like all mom's I racked my brain with how to keep my children occupied with the 3 hour drive to our beach-trip weekend. 3 hours to get to the beach, by the way?! Are you freakin' kidding me? *sigh* I adore the beach so I'll put on my big girl panties, stuff my family in the car with an epic ton of gear and what-nots and GO.
But how to keep the children entertained?!
TWO WAYS:
A. Prizes. Every mommy/daddy determined "check point" I reach into a bag and pull out a new toy (from the Dollar Store!) for each kids. Play, be happy and BE QUIET.
B. Make a busy book! A busy book is a unique way to engage your child's problem solving and fine-motor skills. I had some time on my hands this week and whipped up this bad boy with some scrap fabric I had laying around, and a quick trip to the dollar and craft stores.
Now a detailed tutorial for this busy book would be ridiculously long. Fortunately, I think you all are pretty smart and if I give you some pictures and lists of items needed you should be able to figure it out!
The Cover: You can make the whole thing out of felt, but I had extra chevron pink fabric and had to use it. Front fabric, lining, back fabric and ribbon. Sew in a square inside-out, fold right-side out, sew shut. Repeat for back.
If making the whole thing out of felt, simply sew all of the felt sheets together along one side!
Buckle Page: plastic buckles, 1 sheet of felt, scrap felt for sewing on buckles. The buckles engage both problem solving and fine-motor skills.
Calculator Page: What kid doesn't love a calculator? 1 sheet of felt, calculator, scrap fabric to sew on a pocket.
Zipper/Money Page: The point of this page was for zipper manipulation. You can put anything you want in the zipper pocket, OR you can sew/glue in a kids wallet that has Velcro/zippers and play money!
Shoe Lace Page: Key rings, a shoe lace, 1 sheet of felt, scrap felt to make a pocket (to hold the shoe lace) and to attach the key rings. This engages fine motor skills by weaving the shoe lace through the key rings.
Alphabet Sorting Page: 1 sheet of felt, 1 key ring, ribbon, alphabet letters and scrap felt to make pockets for the letters. I attached ribbon to these cheap letter magnets so they wouldn't get lost in the car. You're child kind sort the right letters to their matching pockets!
Shape Page: 1 sheet of felt, velcro, and scrap felt. I sewed on the rough side of pieces of velcro to the back of the shapes. You don't need the soft side because the rough side will stick just fine to the felt!
What I love the most about making a busy book specifically for my kiddos is that I can custom design it to my child's interests. PLUS it makes me feel like a really good mom because I'm engaging important life skills within my child through play learning!
Happy Crafting!
