How to make your own quiet activity book

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Making a quiet activity book using felt can be a fun and engaging project for both children and adults. Here are the steps to create a basic quiet activity book using felt:

Gather materials: You will need felt sheets in different colors, scissors, a ruler, a pen or marker, and a variety of decorations such as buttons, snaps, and Velcro. Maybe even consider some scraps of fur or leather or other materials for texture.

Plan the pages: Decide how many pages you want the book to have and what activities you want to include. Some ideas for quiet activities could be matching shapes, counting games, or even a felt version of tic-tac-toe.

Cut out the pages: Using the ruler and scissors, cut out the felt pages in the desired size and shape. Make sure to leave a small margin around the edges for sewing or gluing. I actually use a whole 9x12 sheet as a page.

Add decorations: Use the decorations to add visual interest and texture to the pages. For example, you could use buttons to create eyes on a felt animal, or use non-toxic fabric paint to draw a scene or shapes.

Create interactive elements: To make the book interactive, you can add elements such as flaps, pockets, or Velcro. For example, you could create a farm scene with pockets for the animals to go into, or outer space with spaceships. Create finger puppets to add to the scenes.

Sew or hot glue the pages together: Once all the elements are in place, sew or glue the pages together to create the book. Make sure to leave enough room for the pages to stack on top of each other, and reinforce the spine with a strip of felt or fabric. I use embroidery floss in a blanket stitch along the spine.

Test and play: Test the book to make sure all the interactive elements work as intended. Then, sit back and watch as your child (or yourself) enjoys hours of quiet playtime with their new felt activity book.

Final thoughts:
These interactive books offer a great alternative for screen free entertainment. Also a great way for kids to learn their colors, numbers and animals. They provide a way to use their imagination and fine tune their motor skills. In fact these books are great for nursing homes to help seniors with motor skills as well.

To get you started check out your local craft store for supplies. I also like to shop at Benzie Design for their incredible selection of high quality wool blend felt sheets. 

I hope you will try to create your own unique book for yourself. Please share in the comments if you do and let me know how it went out of you have questions. 

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