Women in the Bible - Quiet Book

So . . . I was cleaning out some drawers not to long ago and I came across this little gem.

It's the very first quiet book I ever made.  I can't believe I had completely forgotten about it!  When I was in college I took a course from Camille Fronk Olsen called Women in Scripture (I know, I know--if you know Camille then you're pretty jealous of me :)  She is an amazing teacher and it was an amazing class.  I learned so much.  A large portion of our grade in the class was determined by a big semester project of our choosing having to do with women in scripture.  I chose to make a quiet book for children teaching about these amazing women.  Looking back I find my choice funny.  I must really have some sort of crazy love for quiet books.

The book includes verses directly from the scriptures along with a picture/activity page.  Having studied child development I tried to include all that fun sensory stuff for kids.  I also did a lot of research into the verses I included in the book and made a guide for parents so they could help their children better understand some of the unfamiliar parts of the scripture.  For example on the page about Miriam it says in Exodus 2:3, "And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with a pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the rivers brink."

My parents guide explains: The precise form of this little "ark" is unknown. It may have been a basket, a boat, or a box.  It was made of leaf of the papyrus, a reedy plant which grew plentifully on the banks of the Nile, and which was used by the Egyptians for cordage, baskets, boats, sails, writing material, and a variety of other purposes; even sometimes food.  The "slime" . . . though melting easily and running freely, when cold it is very brittle; but if mixes with tar it becomes tenacious when set, and makes firm cement.  In preparing the little vessel for the reception of the infant Moses, it is probable that the papyrus leaves were first plaited together, and then coated with a mixture of hot bitumen and tar, which when cold became firm and water-proof. 

Interesting, huh?  Yeah, this little guide is full of interesting facts and tid-bits.  It's such a little treasure to go along with my quiet book.  

Moving on . . .

So to be honest I'm kind of embarrassed of this book.  The idea and the research I put into it are fabulous--but the art and construction of it . . . it's not  . . . perfect.  I was a poor college student and had super limited supplies (and time).  It really was quite painful to my budget to have to go out and buy all those brushes and different colors of paint.  I still have to remind myself that no little kid is really going to care.  My kids love this book and have so much fun learning the scripture stories as they play with the pages.  In fact this post has taken me forever to write up because each time they see me working on it they are reminded of this little quiet book and they want me to read it with them.

Regardless of what a little child might think though I'm still hesitant to share it here . . . but I'm going to anyway.  I hope it will inspire someone to make something 10 times better than mine, and more importantly help their children develop a love for the scriptures and the lessons that we can learn there . . . and fortunately these small picture hide so many of my many flaws.

So . . . here goes nothing.  Don't laugh.  OK?  :)

First off is my little cover page.  All the text in my book was done by typing it up on the computer and then printing it out onto Pellon Peltex sheets through my printer.  Printing onto the Pellon mutes the text quite a bit.  I used black ink but you can see it comes out looking more gray.



Eve.
The apples are felt and removable with velcro.  There is also velcro in Adam and Eve's hands so they can hold the apple.

Rachel
On this page the fuzzy sheep can be moved around to different velcro spots on the page.

Miriam
Here's Moses floating in his reed basket on the "ric-rac" water.  The basket opens and Moses is removable.  I just have to say pellon is really a pain to paint--especially with cheap brushes. I tried to take a short cut and used a permanent marker to do some of the coloring.  You can see on the opposite page that over time some of the green marker has bled over.  I'm a little sad about that . . . but what are ya gonna do?

Here is the page with the basket closed.

Ruth
On this page Ruth's arm is movable with a brad.  Her hand is holding a string that the stalks of wheat can be strung onto.  The stalks of wheat are held a in pocket that looks like a bundle of wheat.

The Widow of Zarephath
On this page the barrel can be seen with a small amount of meal on the bottom.  Then as you tell the story the child can unbutton the barrel and turn it over . . .

to show the jar full.

Ester
Esters hair can be braided and tied with the ribbons.

Mary
Baby Jesus and the little land can be removed and placed on the page with velcro.



The Woman with the Alabaster Box
On this page the woman's hair is made of string that can be used to clean/wipe the Savior's feet.

So as you can see this book is a great teaching tool and has become a real treasure.  I hope it inspires you to create a fun teaching tool for your children.

Looking for more quiet book ideas?  Check out my other quiet book patterns below.


My Original Quiet Book 



Quiet Book Game Series

and my book

Quiet Book Patterns

How to Make a Fabric Quiet Book Cover

Want to make a fabric cover for your quiet book?  I gave some brief instructions a few years ago how I made this cover but with all the extra quiet book pages I've sewn over the past few years I needed a few more covers, and why not make them all matching while I'm at it?  Something simple and sturdy to keep all my pages contained.

This is what I came up with:

I used quilted fabric to make my covers nice and thick and added two big chunky buttons just for fun.

All the pages are held together inside using three 1" binder rings looped through buttons holes in the cover.

The back has a nice big zippered pocket to hold any loose pieces.

I love to see my quiet book pages all neatly bound together sitting on the shelf.

Ready and waiting for little hands to come and play.

Want to make your own fabric quiet book cover?  Follow the directions below:

This cover is measured to fit my 7" x 8.5" quiet book pages.  Feel free to adjust the sizing to fit your own page dimensions.

Cut a 10.5" x 42" piece of fabric.  Fold in half.  Using a fabric pencil or marker, mark your fabric as indicated below.

Unfold fabric and cut along the 5 inch line marked along with a little "V" snip on each end.  This is where your zipper will go.  Fold the fabric toward the back creating a 5/8" opening.  Press flat with your iron.

Lay a 7" zipper on the wrong side of fabric over zipper opening, pull tab facing down.  Pin zipper and sew around opening to secure zipper in place.  Yeah!  You have the zipper done.  The hardest part is over.

Place a quiet book page on top of  the cover and center it over the 1.25" area.  Use a fabric pencil or marker to mark where the holes are onto your cover.

Using the place holding marks in the above step, place six 5/8" marks as shown below.

Using the button hole setting on your sewing machine create six button holes where your 5/8" marks are.  Carefully snip open button holes once done.

Unzip the zipper (this is important) and fold the quiet book cover in half.  Pin raw edges and sew at 1/4" (don't sew along the fold.)

Clip corners (be careful to not clip too close to the stitching).  This will help the corner lay better.

Now turn your cover right-side-out  through the zipper opening.

Use and iron to press your cover flat.  Stitch along your three marked lines from top to bottom.

Add a velcro closure to book cover and flap.

Sew buttons onto flap.

Insert quiet book pages into book by looping 1" binder rings through the button holes and quiet book pages.

Lovely little quiet books all done!

Quiet Book Games Part 5: Dots and Squares (Free Template Included)

Today I'm sharing the final post in my quiet book game series.  I hope you've had just as much fun with them as I have!  Today's quiet book game is probably my favorite, Dots and Squares.   You will find the free template as well as links to the other posts in this series at the end of this post.

Be sure to check back next week for my big giveaway!  You won't want to miss it!

Growing up my sisters and I called this game "the dot game".  My husband informed me that it is called "squares".  Upon doing a little research I learned that this game goes by many names including: dots and boxes, squares, pigs in a pen, paddocks, square-it, dots and dashes, dots, smart dots, dot boxing, or simply the dot game.  That's a lot of names!  It looks like both my husband and I were right.  If you're not familiar with the rules of this game you can find them here.

To make a dots and squares quiet book game you need:

1. Template (found at the end of this post)

2. A pre-cut blank quiet book page.  I always use Pellon peltex for my quiet book pages--it's sturdy and you don't have to worry about fraying edges.  I make all my quiet book pages 7 x 8.5 inches.

3. A piece of 12 or 16 gauge vinyl, roughly 9 x 10 inches.

4. Acid free permanent marker

5. Dry erase marker

6. Single hole paper punch

Instructions:

Use your single hole paper punch to make the holes for binding in your quiet book page.  Download the template and print it out.  Cut out template and lay it on your quiet book page.  Use the dots on the template as a gauge for where to mark the dots on your quiet book page.   Mark the dots along the right and left sides and across the top using your marker.

Slide the template down and continue to mark the dots, using the template for a guide, until you've reached the bottom of your page.  

You now have a page full of dots.

To make your game erasable you need to add a vinyl surface to the page.  To do this roughly cut a 9 x 10 inch piece of vinyl--it's easier to apply if the vinyl is slightly bigger than your quiet book page.  Place the vinyl over your page and pin it along each edge and each corner.  Make sure it's pulled taught as you pin each side.  Sew around all four sides at an 1/8 inch seam.


The tricky thing about sewing vinyl is the presser foot sticking to the vinyl.  To help your presser foot glide along smoothly apply matte finish Scotch tape to the bottom of the presser foot as shown below.  This works wonderfully (and eliminates a ton of frustration!).

Now trim off the excess vinyl that is hanging over the edge of your page.  Re-punch the holes that the vinyl covered up.  Your hole punch will easily cut through the vinyl.

Now your game is ready to play.  Use a dry erase marker when playing to easily erase the game when done--the kind with the built in erasers make for easy clean up.

Be sure to check out the other posts in this series:

Part 1: Othello

Part 2: Simple Puzzles

Part 3: Tic-Tac-Toe

Part 4: Memory Match

(To print templates: Click on picture below to enlarge, then right click and copy.  Open a word document, reduce your margins to zero and paste.  Expand to 100% and print.)

Like this quiet book idea?  Find more of my quiet book ideas here and in my new book Quiet Book Patterns: 25 easy-to-make activities for your children.

Quiet Book Games Part 4: Memory Match (Free Template Included)

Today is part four in my quiet book game series.  Just one more to go!  Don't forget to stop by for my big giveaway once the series is through.

You will find links to the other posts in this series at the end of this post.

Matching games are fun for children of all ages.  I always enjoy playing them with my kids!  Do we ever really out grow them?  You can even simplify the game for very young children by playing with all the cards facing up.  The memory game I've created can also help toddlers and preschoolers learn their colors and shapes.  There are lots of learning opportunities packed into this little game.

What you'll need to make a memory match quiet book game:

1. Template (found at the end of this post)

2. Two pre-cut blank quiet book pages.  I always use Pellon peltex for my quiet book pages--it's sturdy and you don't have to worry about fraying edges.  I make all my quiet book pages 7 x 8.5 inches.

3. Various colors of felt

4. Fusible webbing (I use Pellon wonder under)

5. Acid free permanent marker

6. Single hole paper punch

Instructions:

Download and print out the template.  Place the template under your fusible webbing and trace two of each shape.

Bubble cut around the shape pairs.  Following the fusible web instructions use your iron to adhere the shape pairs to different colors of felt.

Cut out the shapes.  Also, use the rectangle template to cut out 36 of the game cards.  Fold your felt in half to cut two at once to help it go faster.

Peel off the paper backing from your shapes and place them, fusible webbing side down, onto the rectangle game cards.  Use your iron to fuse the shapes to the cards.  Remember to cover your project with a scrap piece of cotton fabric to protect it when ironing.

Pin another rectangle piece to the back of each game card and sew around the edges at 1/8".  The two layers makes it so you can't see the shapes through the back of the cards.

Now use your rectangle template and a permanent marker to trace nine squares onto each quiet book page.  Remember to use a single hole punch to place holes along the edge for binding.

Place completed game cards onto your quiet book page face down for playing.

Have fun with your new memory match game!

Be sure to check out the other posts in this series:

Part 1: Othello
Part 2: Simple Puzzles
Part 3: Tic-Tac-Toe
Part 5: Dots and Squares

(To print templates: Click on picture below to enlarge, then right click and copy.  Open a word document, reduce your margins to zero and paste.  Expand to 100% and print.)

Like this quiet book idea?  Find more of my quiet book ideas here and in my new book Quiet Book Patterns: 25 easy-to-make activities for your children.