Letters to Early Christians quiet book page - Interview with Jessica

Today I would like to introduce you to Jessica and find out how she came up with such a simple Bible quiet book page that keeps kids entertained for ages. When the pages are so easy to make, you might have to start coming up with other reasons for not making a start on a quiet book project!

Carissa D: Hi Jessica and thanks for letting me share your Letters to Early Christians quiet book page. I know you made this page as part of a New Testament quiet book swap because I participated in that swap and received this page (among others) back. 

You can read about what a quiet book swap is in my post about my participation in a Puzzle Quiet Book Page Swap.

Carissa D: I must admit that your page was probably Tahlia's favourite from that swap, and she absolutely LOVED this page at around 5 years old. I can't remember if topics for each page were already chosen and we picked from a list or if we made up our own page topics, but this is a unique idea I haven't seen anywhere else. So I am wondering how you came up with the idea?

Jessica: I do believe we had topics for the pages. If I remember right we swapped about 10 pages but I ended up making a bunch more at home to complete an Old Testament Book and a New Testament book. I think the idea was just that the new testament letters are so hard to capture unless you only represent one single powerful verse such as John 3:16. But I wanted to capture all of it. The concept was that the original letters were written on scrolls and to provide the kids an image of a scroll and then they could point off the ABC's or trace over the letters on the page. For very young kids they can use a pretend feather pen that was tucked behind the scroll, and trace the letters. For older siblings they could practice reading the name of the Letters from the Apostles or even memorize the names of the books.

Carissa D: I love pages that can suit multiple age groups and can sort-of grow with the child. What significance do the New Testament letters hold for you? Was there a particular attraction to the topic of this page?

Jessica: I think I chose this page simply because I had an idea I thought I could do. I don't consider myself very artistic and so if I had any idea for a page I went for it!

Carissa D:  What do you think of quiet book swaps and would you recommend people join them?

Jessica: Many many mother's struggle through going to Mass with little ones. I love Quiet books because it is an activity that the kids can do that still keeps them at least in some way thinking about God, while not letting them have a toy that they can bang into the pew and make us Mom's worry about disturbing others. Little ones need to be active and they do belong at church with us. Anything that makes it easier for them is a worthy effort. We have made four quiet books now.

Carissa D: Well done! Could you explain how you made this page please?

Jessica: Supplies- 

Background color of your choice in Felt or Fabric
1 sheet of white felt
1 feather
1 bottle black puffy paint

To recreate this page is easy. Cut out a piece of felt in the shape of a scroll (maybe practice on paper and then transfer to white felt). Sew all sides down except one so that you can tuck in a feather behind it. If you feel conformable with a sewing machine sew your lines across to give the appearance of a scroll like you see in a line drawing or you can sew the edges and use puffy paint for the lines. I used a google image for "scroll line drawing" as an example. Once your sewing is done, write out the names of all the letters in puffy paint (hopefully your handwriting is better than mine), and keep a feather behind the white felt, on the side your didn't sew for kids to practice tracing with.

Carissa D: It does sound easy. I love the embossed felt you used (we don't have such a variety of felt available in Australia). It looks like you painted the tip of your feather as well which really makes it feel authentic when you are pretending to write. Was there anything about this page that you would change if you made it again?

Jessica: I would probably have someone with better handwriting write the names!

Carissa D:  What encouragement can you give to others who might be thinking of starting a quiet book?

Jessica: I think I would have never started quiet books if it wasn't for my crafting group. Getting the unique ideas from so many different people and only having to come up with one or two unique ideas yourself makes the entire project so much more manageable. Find a community online and start from there.

Carissa D: Did/do you use your quiet books to keep your children quiet in church or do you use them elsewhere? Do they live up to their name?

Jessica: I keep at least 1 in my car at all times when I have children under 2 years old, but we use them during car rides or at church most often. Quiet books work for us unless the kids decide to argue over who gets to hold which one. We have a Mass book, Old Testament, New Testament, and a generic baby book (that my 8 year old made for my infant when I was pregnant, it is a great project to teach young ones how to sew).

Carissa D: That sounds amazing, I am really hoping my daughter Tahlia wants to start making quiet books one day too. Thanks so much for sharing your page idea with us. Sometimes getting the ideas is the hardest part!

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Do you have any simple busy book pages that your kids play with for hours? Comment below!

Leviticus 25 - Jubilee Calendar Quiet Book Page

In Leviticus chapter 25, God explains the Jubilee cycle.

Memory Verse: "‘And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family." Leviticus 25:8-10 (NKJV).

 

Materials needed to create the Jubilee Calendar quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used hot pink
• my free Leviticus 25 - Jubilee Calendar Bible Quiet Book Page Template Pattern
• 16 silver grommets with a 3mm diameter
• hole punch / grommet tool
• 1mm black elastic
• 42 wood coloured beads, 7 blue beads, and 1 yellow/gold bead - I bought these (not an affiliate link)
• small flat button

Punch holes and insert grommets in your background sheet using the template as a guide (where the x's are marked) - see the video tutorial in the difficulty level section below. 

Thread the black elastic through the holes in rows, adding beads as you go. The beads should be in seven rows of seven beads (six wooden and one blue for the six working years and the seventh year of rest) followed by a single yellow/gold bead to represent the Jubilee year. Since I wanted to save elastic, I threaded the elastic through the nearest hole rather than going to the start of the next row. That meant I had to add every second row of beads in the reverse order.

Ensure the elastic is pulled so it is not too loose on the front and cut it to the appropriate length to allow you to tie it off nicely. Thread the elastic ends through the button and tie them together in a tight knot to prevent the knot from moving to the front of the page.

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sewing involved.

A very easy quiet book page!

You can watch the below video by Irina Sorokina from My Craft / Quiet books to see how to install grommets.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Leviticus 25 - the Jubilee year represents Eternity and what God is going to do for us - set us free, restore us to our families and give us our land back
• Counting - count seven lots of seven years until the 50th year - the Jubilee
• Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
• Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

Read the Chapter

Leviticus 25

Devotional

The Jubilee is such good news! I believe it represents eternity on the New Earth, when we will all be released from slavery, returned to our families and given land to inherit. The Jubilee year follows seven lots of seven year "weeks", where the land was given a rest every seventh year. It was not to be sewn and grape vines were not to be pruned, etc. This would rejuvenate the land, and God promised that if they would keep the Sabbath rest for the land every seventh year, that He would bless the harvest in the sixth year so there would be enough to feed everyone for three years (which would of course last until the harvest came in in the first year of a new Jubilee cycle, with a Jubilee resulting in two Sabbath years rest for the land in a row). This was reported to have occurred during the reign of Hezekiah (2 Kings 19:29).

Although the first day of the seventh month (on the religious calendar) is New Year's day on the civil calendar, the Jubilee is not announced until Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), which is ten days later. I'm not quite sure why that is yet, but I'm sure there is a reason. Nevertheless, I can certainly see the contrast the God is intending announcing a Jubilee celebration on a day of traditional fasting. And He does state that the four major fast days will be turned into joyous occasions (Zechariah 8:19) - and what more joy could you have than when set free from slavery, returned to your family, and given an inheritance?

Ron Kenoly - Jubilee (Official Live Video)

I have previously explained my reasons for believing that the Jubilee is the 50th year (and not the same as the 49th year as some people propose) in my Time to Celebrate: Jubilee Bead Cycle tutorial (plus bracelet craft) for the High Holidays post. 

Most people would have only experienced one Jubilee in their lifetime, at least only one that they remember. It is the countdown to restoration. Ultimately, the land belongs to God, and He divided the land between the tribes of Israel. Because the land belongs to God, it was not allowed to be sold permanently. At the Jubilee, if you had sold your land sometime during the 49 years, you would get it back. The price of the sale was to reflect the amount of time remaining until the Jubilee (if there were many years, the sale price would be more than if there were only a few years left). The family that the land had been given to always had the right to buy their land back (called redeeming it), with the price again reflecting how many years were left until the Jubilee. An example of this might be the story of Naomi and Ruth, where Naomi's husband sold his land because of a drought, and when Naomi and Ruth returned, Boaz became their Redeemer. Not only did he have to marry Ruth, but I imagine he would have paid the price due on their land. 

It seems that Sabbath rests for the land were not often kept, since the children of Israel were required to go into captivity for 70 years to allow the land to have it's rest (2 Chron. 36:21)! 

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What does the Jubilee mean to you? Comment below!