Everything You Need to Know About Busy Books for Toddlers

Have you considered getting busy books for your toddler but you have not been able to make up your mind until now, well, if that is the case then this post shares everything that you need to know about busy books, why should invest in them, their various benefits, what all makes up for a good book and various other such aspects, in the following article! Read on to know everything about these educational toys for your growing toddler!

What Is a Busy Book?

Well, busy books or quiet books for toddlers, preschoolers, and even babies, are books that are specially designed to practice the newly acquired skill and even learn new skills. These are kinds of educational toys that contain age-appropriate content for your child. Made with either fabric or felt, these engaging and interactive books contain activities and games for kids.

Why Do You Need a Busy Book for Your Child?

So, now that you know what are busy books, you must be intrigued to know why you need to invest in these books, well, to keep your kiddo fruitfully occupied! There are times when you want your kid to be on his own without you interfering in any activity that he may be engrossed in and that is when these books come into the picture! Apart from this, there are various other benefits of these books.

Benefits of Busy Books

Here are some of the many benefits and reasons why busy books are the best toys for toddlers:

• These books can help kids in enhancing fine motor skills
• These books come in handy in teaching kids about number identification and counting
• These books are great for acquainting kids with different colors
• These books are helpful in introducing various shapes
• These books assist kids in learning about problem-solving
• These books help the kids in getting the hang of pretend or imaginative play
• These books are beneficial for grasping the concept of sorting and matching
• These books are a great tool for animal and nature exploration

What Is the Best Age to Introduce Busy Books to Your Child?

If you are thinking about what should be the right age to get busy books for your kiddo, well, these books can not only be a learning tool for toddlers and preschoolers but also great for babies. The best part about these books is that they come in age-appropriate categories and you can pick up pictures with contrasting imagery that would amuse and attract young babies, you can invest in books with classic games like tic tac toe, checkers, etc. for toddlers or older kids.

What Makes a Good Busy Book?

Well, just like we adults pick up books that are in sync with our taste and preference, we should do the same with our kids. This means that if your kiddo is fascinated with animals then you should get books with animal themes. This means that the success of any book depends on the child it is bought for. The book could be an engaging and fun learning tool for a child if it as per the kid’s skill level and preference. Also, make sure that you should keep upgrading the levels of the books to brush up your kid’s skill set.

DIY Busy Book Page Ideas for Toddlers

This section teaches you some easy DIY busy books that you can make for your toddler!

1. Apple Picking

Source: Pinterest

A fairly simple easy busy book to make but it will also keep your munchkin entertained!

Things You Will Need 

• Felt in brown, dark green, light green, and red colors.
• Velcro
• A hot-glue gun
• A pair of scissors

Instructions

1. Take light green felt to make the pages of the book. Cut two pages and secure them with the hot glue gun.
2. Use brown felt to cut a trunk and two branches of the tree. The same color is required to cut a semi-circle to make the basket and its handle.
3. Use dark green felt to cut two circles, one slightly bigger than the other, to make the treetop.
4. Use red felt to cut small apple shapes.
5. Stick the tree trunk, branches, and treetop on the light green felt base.
6. Take the basket base and stick only the outer three sides and leave the inner flap open to create a cavity for the bag. Stick the handle, to complete the basket.
7. Take Velcro and cut it into smaller pieces. Stick one end on the back of all the apple cutouts and the other ends randomly on the treetop. Let it dry.
8. Store all the apple cut-outs in the bag and your busy book is ready!
9. Ask your kiddo to take out apples from the tree and stick them on the tree or vice-a-versa!.

2. Matching Dinosaur Shapes

This easy-to-make felt book for toddlers is a great way of teaching kids about various shapes and colors!

Source: Pinterest

Things You Will Need 

• Black felt for the base of the book
• Felt in Red, green, purple, blue, yellow, or other colors
• Glue gun
• Scissors
• Velcro

Instructions

1. Stick the black pages together with a hot glue gun, let them dry.
2. Cut various dinosaur shapes and geometric shapes from different colored felt.
3. Stick dinosaur shapes randomly on the black felt pages. Let them dry.
4. Cut geometric shapes using different colored felt.
5. Cut Velcro into smaller pieces and stick one part in the center of the dinosaur figures and the other on the corresponding geometric shapes. Let them dry!
6. The matching dinosaur shape book is ready to engage your kiddo!

3. Button Turkey

This utterly adorable book is great for enhancing your child’s fine motor skills!

Source: Pinterest

Things You Will Need

• 6 buttons in bright colors such as yellow, pink, green, blue, orange, etc.
• Felt in the same colors as buttons
• Dark brown and light brown felt to make the body of the turkey, blue felt for the base.
• Black marker pen
• Glue gun
• Sewing kit
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Use dark brown felt to cut a big circle to make the body of the turkey and light brown felt to make the head. Place the body in the center of the base and the head in the center of the turkey, using a hot glue gun.
2. Using thread and needle sew buttons on the inner rim of the circle at equal distance, starting at the base of the head as the reference point.
3. Using yellow felt, cut two legs and beak.
4. Use red felt to cut the snood. Stick all these body parts, using the glue gun.
5. Cut long leaf shapes and alphabets for the word ‘THANKS’ using different colored felts.
6. Make sure you stick contrasting letters on top of different leaves.
7. Make buttonholes towards the bottom end of the leaves, big enough to slide it through the buttons.
8. Voila, it is all ready to amuse your munchkin!

4. 4th of July Fireworks

This easy-to-make book is great for teaching the importance of the 4th of July to your munchkin!

Source: Pinterest

Things You Will Need

• Black felt for the base of the book
• White, red, green, and light brown felt
• A small American flag cut out
• Glue gun

Instructions

1. Cut black felt to make pages of the book, secure with a glue gun.
2. Cut a rectangle to make a grass base and stick it as the base of black felt. We will be sticking everything on the left page rather than the right one.
3. Make a pole shape using the white felt and stick it towards the left corner above the green patch.
4. Cut a small oval and stick it on top of the pole.
5. Now sew the left side of the flag, let it overlap the pole, and leave the other side open. You can also sew a small rope on the left side of the flag for a more realistic appeal.
6. Cut a wagon shape using red felt and make wheels using black felt. Sew or stick them over the green patch. Leave the topmost part of the wagon open. You can put randomly cut small pieces of felt in different colors in this cavity, to make it look like confetti (optional)
7. Use white felt to make some detailing on the wagon.
8. Your 4th of July Busy book is all set to interest your munchkin!

How to Manage Your Toddler’s Busy Book

Here are a few tips for managing your toddler’s busy book:

1. Use it only when required: You should use a busy book only when you think that your child is interested in doing some kind of activity, otherwise keep it away and take it out only when required.
2. Make it a special book: Let your kiddo know that it is a special book and requires special care too. Introducing it in this way will help your kid in getting the idea about taking care of the book.
3. As per your child’s interest: Make sure that you pick a book that is as per your kid’s taste and preference. Doing so will keep the child interested and engrossed in the book.
4. Plan well: If you are planning on giving it to your kid during your travels while visiting a friend, etc. make sure that you choose a book with activities that your kid enjoys doing.

Types of Busy Books Available for Toddlers

Here are various types of children’s quiet books:

1. For Babies and Very Young Children

These are the type of books that are specially designed for small babies and young kids with age-appropriate content and activities. The parts of these types of books are carefully sewn or attached so that they do not cause any kind of harm to young babies or kids.

2. For Toddlers

These types of quiet books for 1-year-old to 2-year-old kids come with more complex skills and contain advanced ideas to engage kids in this age bracket. In these books, the parts are secured well so that kids do not lose or misplace them.

3. Themed Books

These books, as the name suggests are based on various themes that can keep a child engrossed for a longer time. Your kid will have more options or choices with this book. For example books with animal themes, cooking themes, etc.

4. Montessori-Themed Books

These books are designed to challenge older kids and thus these kinds of books range from containing academic concepts to life skill sets. These usually contain many pieces and thus more care has to be taken to keep the pieces of the book safe.

5. Game Boards

These kinds of boards are not exactly books, however, these game boards for little munchkins can turn their usual bags or tiffin boxes into activity centers.

We hope that you are convinced about the benefits and usage of these amazing toys that are not only educational but also very entertaining for young minds! If you have not tried these books, well, now is now to get one for your little one!

Also Read:

Toddlers Parenting Books
Board Books for Toddlers