If you’re a parent, you know how difficult it can be to keep your toddler occupied. But what if there was a way to keep them amused and educated at the same time? Busy books are an excellent choice.
Busy books are jam-packed with a variety of activities, puzzles, and games that will keep your toddler entertained for hours.
The most appealing aspect is that they are available in a variety of themes, forms, and sizes, so there’s almost certainly one that will appeal to your child.
So, if you’re searching for a way to keep your toddler occupied, take a look at the advantages of busy books listed below! We have some great toddler busy book ideas to share along with some busy book printable PDF too!
What Is a Busy Book?
Busy Books (also known as Quiet Books) are soft portable books usually made of fabric or laminated paper filled with activities that can be used to help keep young kids busy.
The pages in busy books are often designed to look like real-life objects so children can interact and engage with them.
Some busy books are specially designed to practice a newly acquired skill and even learn new skills.
Busy books are great for keeping kids quiet and out of trouble while working on mastering common fine motor skills or learning something new like how to sort and identify colors.
Children love busy books because they’re able to touch, feel, complete tasks, and learn while playing!
What Should You Look For in a Busy Book?
When searching for toddler busy books, there are a few things you should look for to ensure it’s the best quiet book for your toddler.
Is It Age Appropriate?
First and foremost, check the age range of your busy book so you know if it’ll be appropriate for your child.
Since busy books can get pretty detailed with some activities included in them, we recommend busy books for toddlers be geared for ages two and up.
What’s the Theme?
Busy book themes are endless and can range from farm life, to grocery shopping, to fairy tales, to space travel!
Look for a busy book that fits your child’s interests so they can stay engaged longer.
Is It Durable?
Busy books for toddlers can get pretty messy as kids interact with them! Make sure to find a busy book that’s durable and won’t rip or tear easily.
If you are making your own, you may want to laminate the pages and any game pieces to make them last longer.
But one benefit to busy book printables is that you can always print them out again or easily replace lost pieces without having to buy it again!
Why Do You Need a Busy Book for Toddlers?
These books are handy for parents to take anywhere they need their kids to relax and stay quiet for a while.
A busy book is an excellent alternative for those times when it isn’t possible to take other toys and allow children of all ages explore skills like pretend play by following simple instructions on each page!
Quiet books can go with you to the doctors’ office, on a plane, and anywhere else you may need your child to keep your child engaged and happy.
Quiet books are soft and safe for use in places like the car where a hard flying object is a danger in an accident. Your soft quiet books won’t hurt your child further like a travel tray and art supplies could.
On the other hand, hard binder quiet books are great for use at home and organizing activities if you have acquired a lot of them.
Benefits of Busy Books
As a parent, you want to make sure that your child has every opportunity to learn and grow. One way to help them in their development is to give them a busy book.
For quiet books, the real benefits are what you put inside of them. You can make new quiet books to teach a particular skill like phonics, sight words or counting.
Depending on the activity, working in a quiet book can help toddlers learn the following skills:
- Math (number identification and counting)
- Increase creative abilities and imaginative play
- Learning colors and geometrical shapes
- Exposure to critical thinking and problem-solving
- Language arts like letter recognition, spelling and even reading
- Learning the concept of sorting and matching
What Is the Best Age to Introduce Busy Books to Your Child?
This is a question that parents often ask, and there is no definitive answer. The right time to introduce these books depends on several factors, such as your child’s age, developmental stage and interest.
Most parents will start with soft books for babies and eventually move on to laminated printable quiet books with game pieces or writing activities.
Some wait to introduce Busy Books when their child is starting to learn how to read.
Keep in mind that every child is different, so use your own judgement when deciding when to introduce these books.
What Makes a Good Quiet Book?
When it comes to picking out the perfect quiet book for your child, what do you look for?
Some parents might choose a book based on their child’s favorite characters or colors.
Others might go for a book that is interactive and will keep their child entertained for hours on end.
No matter what your criteria may be, the book could be an engaging and fun learning tool for your child.
You’ll also want to make sure you keep upgrading the levels of the activities in your busy books to keep your childn’s interest high and also introduce new concepts or skills to learn.
Making vs Buying a Quiet Book
Many parents start out with buying various busy books for their children, but will quickly find that this can get expensive.
Young children are like sponges and will advance quickly so always busy a new activity may not always be practical.
The preferred method for most parents is to make your own toddler busy book. Unlike store-bought books, a homemade quiet book can be customized to fit the child’s interests and abilities.
Don’t worry – you don’t need any fancy sewing or crafting skills! You can just print, laminate and keep the pages in a binder.
DIY Busy Books are easily replaceable if pages get damaged or pieces get lost. You can also easily add and upgrade activities with printable busy book ideas found online.
How to Make Your Own Quiet Books
For crafty moms, the best quiet books to make are made of fabric. These books are soft and great for taking anywhere.
For less crafty moms you can have all of the benefits of quiet books with printable activities, some velcro, and even dry erase markers for fun activities your toddler can do and redo over and over again.
To make your own quiet books from printables, you will want to find fun printable activities that can be used to create scenes and projects your child can work on like sorting recycling and trash or decorating a scene.
A laminator will make your quiet books last so they can be used over and over again.
Laminate the base pages and any accessories or game pieces for each page. For making it easy to keep parts in place while playing and prevent lost parts on the go, you can use velcro dots or keep loose pieces in a ziploc bag or binder pocket.
As we mentioned earlier, for a sturdy quiet book that can be organized and rearranged easily, use a tear resistant 3 ring binder.
What Are Some Fun Ideas for Busy Books?
Now that you know what to look for in busy books, let’s take a look at some fun busy book ideas that your kids will love!
Build Your Own Pizza
This busy book idea is perfect for toddlers who are learning about food groups. This activity allows toddlers to create their own pizzas using a variety of toppings and sauces. Not only is it fun, but it’s also a great way to teach them about food groups and nutrition.Plus, they’ll get to practice their fine motor skills by assembling their own little pizza masterpiece!
Dinosaur Discovery
Dinosaurs are always a favorite with kids of all ages. This busy book is perfect for toddlers to learn about dinosaurs and have fun creating their own prehistoric world! Your child will get to create different dinosaur habitats, using the included backgrounds or you can use your imagination in making some DIY stand-alone backdrops.
Farm Life
There’s something about farm life that just seems to fascinate toddlers. This activity is perfect for toddlers who love spending time outdoors and learning about farm life. It features a variety of fun activities, including coloring pages, matching games, and more. This busy book idea allows children to learn the different names for animals, the sounds they make and even what they eat!
Grocery Store
For busy books about grocery shopping, we recommend this fun busy book idea.
Our Grocery Store Shopping Game Printable allows kids to recognize the names of common grocery store items and follow directions as they place each item into their cart just like you would at any store.
This busy book activity helps children with memory skills and builds confidence as they become familiar with the different items you might find at a grocery store.
Outer Space
Looking for a fun and educational activity to keep your toddler occupied? Why not try making an outer space busy book! This activity is perfect for toddlers who love exploring new things. Plus, it’s a great way to teach them about outer space as they complete each activity, they’ll learn more about our solar system!
