Cut out the hand shape from the fake leather piece and sew it down in position. Cut out the fake fur piece and zig zag around all edges to prevent it from fraying, folding back the fur as you go. Sew it down along the sides of the hands and between the thumb and fingers, leaving the top edges along the fingers open so you can feel the smooth leather underneath.
Sew the decorative trim scrap to the edge of the arm end of the fur as the edge of Esau's good set of clothes that Jacob is wearing using zig zag stitch. Sew a section of felt to the edge of the page to finish the arm.
Finished!
Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.
A very easy quiet book page! Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version (except on the edges of the fur - you will just have to hope it doesn't fray too badly, which it probably won't, but I like to be extra careful). Or you could fold and glue the edges of the fur, but will have to include seam allowance for that.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Genesis 27 - Jacob, the deceiver, deceives his father and steals Esau's blessing
Touch and Feel - Jacob's hands were smooth, but Esau's hands were hairy - touch the tactile elements of the page (leather, fur, and decorative trim)
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
I think this is the first tactile quiet book page I have made, and I think it is quite fitting for this story. I was having trouble trying to think how to illustrate this story and thinking about a dress-up Jacob page with Issac in bed or something. But it was seeming too complicated, and as they say, simple is best. So when I thought about how I could simplify this page, this idea came to mind. I really love how something so simple can demonstrate the whole story so well.
This is another instalment to the Jacob the deceiver story-line. Originally Rebecca is surprised to find out she is pregnant with twins, and when they are born Jacob is a bit of a deceiver in that his fist came out first and a scarlet thread was tied to his wrist to mark him as the first born, but then he withdrew his fist and Esau was actually gets born first. That's how he got his name. Then he convinces Esau to sell him his birthright for a bowl of red lentil stew. A dumb thing to fall for, but I guess Esau feels gypped by Jacob, and now when he actually lives up to his name and deceives his Dad and steals the blessing, which Esau still has to look forward to, Esau gets mad. In a few chapters time, Jacob ends up getting deceived into marrying what may have been the wife intended for Esau.
I read in the Mishna that since Issac and Rebecca had two sons, and Rebecca's brother Laban had two daughters, that there had been some kind of agreement or arrangement made that the older son would marry the older daughter, and the younger son, would marry the younger daughter. But to Rebecca's dismay, Esau never went to claim his bride, and married locally instead. Rebecca at least wants Jacob to marry right, and uses Esau's anger as motivation to finally convince Jacob to go and claim his bride. By this stage, Esau had two wives already. Apparently Jacob was already about 77 years of age when he went to Haran (you can work it out from his age when Joseph was born and how long he stayed in Haran).
There is a big Mamma's boy theme going on here too. Issac says to his son, and Rebecca says to her son... Esau seems to be Issac's favourite, and Jacob, Rebecca's. Esau is a hunter, a real man. Jacob is a dweller in tents, a home body who does domestic things like cooking lentil stew.
So Jacob buys, steals and is tricked into getting everything due Esau. He wants the birthright, he wants the blessing, but not so much the wife. But it seems that they come as a package. And that God had plans for Leah too.
This easy peasy quiet book page comes with a little disclaimer. I used a regular printer and fed some Korean hard felt through it rather than paper. I printed around ten pages worth, and they all printed fine. Not long after doing this however, my printer would no longer print correctly, and I had to get another one.
It is certainly better if you can use the sublimation printing method to print on felt instead! See my post Sublimation Printing on Felt - Test. The colours would turn out much better too, no doubt. Although I think it is okay anyway, especially for a page like this. My Mum says it makes it look antique.
What little girl doesn't enjoy a tea party? I certainly enjoyed many on a cot blanket (think pretend picnic blanket) with my sister and all our dolls and teddies. This little girl has a puppy and kitty to spoil, and they are all totally adorable.
I found this ‘Little Miss Alice & Her Dolly – a commercial Paper doll book’ vintage paper doll set on Pinterest - and there you can find many others as well. I have saved quite a few that might work well for quiet books to my board Felt Sublimation and Printables, which needs a bit of re-organising. The link to the Marges8's Blog posts where you can find the image is here.
Tahlia demonstrates how to mess up a quiet book for a gift
I simply cut slits where indicated for the puppy and kitten to sit at the table and sewed around the outside edge of the felt section depicting the table, leaving the top open to form a pocket to store the dolly, puppy and kitten.
Matthew 24 is a well-known but I believe largely misunderstood chapter.
Memory Verse: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14, NKJV.
Materials needed to create the Gospel to the Nations quiet book page:
about 40cm of 9mm wide ribbon, preferably with edging that resembles train tracks
train button
hot glue and glue gun (optional)
sewing thread to best match the page
scissors!
Use the colouring page as a template and create pattern pieces by cutting out each piece. Print it as many times as you need to.
Cut out the large world circle of blue felt - sew it down to more blue felt and cut it out again.
Choose a green felt that goes well with your blue felt, and a ribbon for the train. I would have chosen the black ribbon with white stitching above, but it wasn't quite long enough. I think it looks a bit like train tracks.
Cut out the land pieces from the green felt (remember to place them upside down if you are planning to draw around them so the drawing is on the wrong side). Position them on your blue world and sew down.
Measure the amount of ribbon required to circle the world easily and cut and melt the edges - see my post on How to Stop Ribbons Fraying.
Lay the ends of the ribbon on top of each other beneath the train button and sew it on in place. You can hand sew or set your machine to zig zag setting and adjust the width to fit the button holes and set the length to zero and sew. I added a little hot glue to the back of the stitching just to be sure.
Position your world on your background page with the ribbon around it. Sew down the world along the top and bottom edges, leaving the sides open to allow the train and ribbon to slide through.
Finished!
Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.
A very easy quiet book page! Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Matthew 24 - it is our job to take the Gospel to the nations
Imaginative Play - pull the train around the world and take the Gospel to the nations
String Pull - pull the train around the world and watch it disappear behind the far edge and re-appear at the other
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
Much of this chapter is about the destruction of Jerusalem and The Second Temple in 70AD. The Parable of the Fig Tree is about this too, and is often misunderstood. Perhaps the most important sentence in this chapter relating to the very end of time in which we find ourselves is that the gospel will go to the nations, and then the end will come.
It is our duty to take the gospel to the nations, not to worry about what terrible things may befall us. Jesus promises to be with us to the very end of the age - so what do we need to fear? I feel it is selfishness which drives us to prepare for the end by buying property in the country or hills so we can run to it in the future trials. Selfishness is never something that should be motivating us, therefore the theology behind it must be wrong.
Ultimately, what we need to worry about is if we took the gospel to the nations. If we spent all our time worrying about our future instead, it will be something to be ashamed of - but if we spend our time preparing others to enter Heaven, God will take care of us and we won't need to worry about anything that may or may not happen to us down here. In reality it doesn't matter - God can resurrect, restore, and re-build.
Matthew chapter 2 recounts the story of the Wise Men following the star to find Jesus, King of the Jews.
Memory Verse: “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” ” Matthew 2:1-2.
Materials needed to create The Wise Men quiet book page:
Cut out all the pieces for this page and the page itself from the Betty Lukens set. The Betty Lukens FAQ section has posted a cutting tips PDF.
Sew the Betty Lukens page onto the background felt along three sides, leaving the top edge open to form a pocket. Pop the pieces inside the pocket (or better yet - play with them)!
Finished!
Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.
A very easy quiet book page! Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Matthew 2 - Learn the story of the Wise Men who came to worship Jesus
Imaginative Play - re-enact the Wise Men following the star
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
Sew the Betty Lukens scene onto your page along three sides to form a pocket for piece storage
Magi... it seems strange that priests from a different religion came to worship Jesus, doesn't it? To find out how the Babylonians came to know prophecies about Jesus, read The Connection Between Daniel and the Christmas Story.
In Genesis 41, Pharaoh is sent two dreams and Joseph is pulled from prison to interpret them.
Memory Verse: "Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do." Genesis 41:25 (NKJV).
Materials needed to create the Pharaoh's Dreams quiet book page:
Cut out all the pieces for this page and the page itself from the Betty Lukens set. The Betty Lukens FAQ section has posted a cutting tips PDF.
Cut out all the pieces for this page and the page itself from the Betty Lukens set. The Betty Lukens FAQ section has posted a cutting tips PDF.
Sew the Betty Lukens page onto the background felt along three sides, leaving the top edge open to form a pocket. Pop the pieces inside the pocket (or better yet - play with them)!
Finished!
Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.
A very easy quiet book page! Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.
I am afraid this kit pictures corn in Pharoh's dream rather than grain as is much more likely intended. A corn can also refer to a kernel of wheat or other grains and is confused in modern day language.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Genesis 41 - God is in control
Imaginative Play - was Joseph scared or confident when he appeared before Pharaoh? How would you feel?
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
The chief butler finally "remembers his faults" (not Joseph as requested), but he does get spoken of to Pharaoh. He doesn't include Joseph's innocence in his story as asked (I probably wouldn't either). Nor is the point of his story to help Joseph at all. I mean, I wouldn't be wanting to remind Pharaoh of my previous mis-favour either.
I wonder how much encouragement Joseph's dreams gave him when he was sold into slavery in a foreign land - the very land God had foretold Abraham his descendants would be enslaved in. His condition gets worse before it gets better and Joseph finds himself, not only a slave but a prisoner. Did his dreams still give him any comfort? I guess Joseph may have seen a chance to get out of goal when he was able to speak to the Chief Butler - someone with influence at court. And yet Joseph remains confident in interpreting the dreams of others, even though his own dreams are yet to be fulfilled and appear rather unlikely to come about.
I enjoy hearing how Joseph structured his speech with Pharaoh.
Of course, he cleaned up before coming into his presence. But after observing Joseph's favour with God, Pharaoh elevates him even further - even second in command! I can't help but feel that Pharaoh is continuing to represent God here in this chapter, and Joseph, Jesus.
He clearly delivers the good news first, and promises a favourable outcome before he begins. I wonder at this, because there is clearly not-so-good news to come. But it looks like Joseph is employing the old feedback sandwich technique here. He puts the bad news in between two pieces of good news, and Pharaoh seems humble enough to receive it.
Joseph is only asked to interpret, but he also proposes a solution - a bold move, no? It seems rather rash to suppose that Pharaoh would listen to a suggestion from someone straight out of gaol, but Joseph has obvious confidence. And it may be that his proposal is the exact thing which convinces Pharaoh that his interpretation is true - see the following short post Why did Pharaoh accept Joseph's dream interpretations and not the others'? by Shmuel Kogan.
Another reason Joseph may have been believed revolves around the text of verses 1 and 17. In verse one, the banks of the Nile are not mentioned, but they are mentioned by Pharaoh in verse 17. It is theorised that Pharaoh actually dreamed he was standing on the Nile (a god in ancient Egypt), and in an attempt to hide this embarrassing and sacrilegious fact, Pharaoh says he was standing on the Nile bank. It is suggested that Joseph corrected this (another bold move if true), thus Pharaoh could see that Joseph had knowledge from God - see Why did Pharaoh believe Joseph's dream interpretation?
Whatever the reason/s Pharaoh believed Joseph, we can have confidence that God is in control, able to influence world leaders, and churn out miracles in the face of dire circumstances. We also can have the confidence of Joseph when we are putting our trust in the LORD.
Rebecca at the Well in Genesis 24 is a beautiful story and every girl's matchmaking dream come true.
Memory Verse: “And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.”” Genesis 24:19 NKJV.
Materials needed to create the Rebecca at the Well quiet book page:
Firstly, get the printable transferred onto white felt by the sublimation printing and heat press method - see my post on Sublimation Printing on Felt - Test. Print the Rebecca and bucket section in reverse as well so you can glue her back to back.
Cut out the printable picture and both buckets and Rebecca's.
Attach your wool or string to the background felt underneath where your picture will be sewn using zig zag stitch. Go back and forth a few times to reinforce the hold.
Sew down the picture along three sides to form a pocket at the top.
Use the split pins to join each Rebecca to her bucket. Hot glue the buckets together and enclose the other end of the wool or string inside, leaving space for the split pins to remain free to turn. Hot glue Rebecca together, again leaving space for the bucket to swivel between her arms and the bottom edge open to form a finger puppet.
Finished!
Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.
A very easy quiet book page! The hardest part is lining up both side of Rebecca when hot gluing (but that's not that hard)!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Genesis 24 - God is a good matchmaker!
Imaginative Play - draw water from the well to give the camels a drink
Finger Puppet - Rebecca
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
How great are the rewards for being faithful in little.
All Rebecca was asked for was a simple drink of water - something which would have taken one minute max. But she offered to water the camels too. Surely Abraham sent more than his "oldest servant who ruled over his house" with the caravan to Nahor! They could have easily drawn the water for the camels. And in fact there were more servants, although they are not mentioned until after Rebecca is found and secured.
I was wondering how many camels there were - can you guess? I was guessing at least five, probably more - but I read it again and it says there were ten. There was all the presents for Rebecca and her mother and brother to carry, plus a bride price, food for the camels and servants to last a good portion of the journey, and possibly camels to ride for the servants. It seems to me that this trip was an urgent one. Everything happens in a rush!
Abraham asks and in the next sentence, Eliezer has left and arrived. Before he finishes praying, Rebecca has appeared. He "runs" to her and she "quickly" lets down her pitcher. She "runs" home to make arrangements for him to stay and her brother "runs" out to invite him in. Then he refuses to eat before he tells them his mission, and after being asked to stay ten nights he will only agree to stay one before returning home.
Giving Eliezer a drink would have fulfilled his request, and is more than Rebecca was obligated to do. But to offer to water ten camels must have taken quite a while even though she did it "quickly".
The below podcast by experienced people says that a thirsty camel can drink between 100-150 liters of water in around 15 minutes. So to water 10 camels, Rebecca might have had to draw 1000-1500 liters of water. I imagine that Rebecca could lift no more than 20 liters at once, so she would have to draw water at least 50-75 times in order to draw that much water which must have taken a couple of hours. It was no casual offer that she made.
How Much Water Does a Camel Drink?
by Camel Connection
Rebecca is not the only virtuous person we can learn from in this chapter. Eliezer is pretty impressive too. Although he is not named in this chapter, Abraham thinks in chapter 15 that Eliezer his servant will be his heir. Eliezer must have known this at the time too. Not only does he not become hurt or offended when he is no longer heir, but he is the one trusted to secure a Godly wife for his replacement Issac. What faithfulness! We can learn so much about how to behave when we are disappointed by not receiving what we thought we were going to. Like when we don't get the promotion we thought we deserved. God has a plan, and often it is not our business!
Psalm 28 was written by David and praises God who rescues him when he puts his trust in the LORD.
Memory Verse: “Save Your people,
And bless Your inheritance;
Shepherd them also,
And bear them up forever.” Psalm 28:9 NKJV.
Materials needed to create the Shepherd Them quiet book page:
A4 felt background sheet - I used tan
Betty Lukens Felt book 01 Bible Stories available at Koorong
sewing thread to best match the page
scissors!
Cut out all the pieces for this page and the page itself from the Betty Lukens set. The Betty Lukens FAQ section has posted a cutting tips PDF.
Sew the Betty Lukens page onto the background felt along three sides, leaving the top edge open to form a pocket. Pop the pieces inside the pocket (or better yet - play with them)!
Finished!
Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.
A very easy quiet book page!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Psalm 28 - Praise God that He is willing and able to hear our prayers, save and shepherd us
Imaginative Play - make the lambs play and eat the grass, play the harp with David
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
We all know that we don't deserve to have the Master of the universe listen to our beck and call. And yet this Psalm is all about praising Him because He hears us.
The sole reason given in this Psalm that God answers our prayers is that we trust Him. He loves to come through for us because of that.
Matthew chapter 1 lists Joseph's genealogy and records the birth of Jesus by the virgin Mary.
Memory Verse: “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”” Matthew 1:21.
Materials needed to create the Baby Jesus quiet book page:
A4 felt background sheet - I used white
Betty Lukens Felt book 011 Life of Jesus as a Boy available at Koorong (not an affiliate link)
sewing thread to best match the page
scissors!
Cut out all the pieces for this page and the page itself from the Betty Lukens set. The Betty Lukens FAQ section has posted a cutting tips PDF.
Sew the gates onto the doorposts by the sides.
Sew the Betty Lukens page onto the background felt along three sides, leaving the top edge open to form a pocket. Pop the pieces inside the pocket (or better yet - play with them)!
Finished!
Sew the Betty Lukens scene onto your page along three sides
to form a pocket for piece storage
Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.
A very easy quiet book page!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Matthew 1 - Learn about Joseph's lineage and how Jesus was born to the virgin Mary
Imaginative Play - put Baby Jesus to bed
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
I left the wise men out of the cover picture as they are not mentioned till
Matthew 2 - didn't think about it until after taking the photos that
actually the shepherds are not in this chapter either!!
I often think about the fact that without sin entering the world you and I would never have existed. Should we be grateful?
In everyone's lineage there is going to be some kind of sexual sin... I'm not sure about my lineage, but with almost 6000 years of history there has got to be quite a lot.
Adam and Eve could have had children without sin entering the World - but would WE have existed, or someone else... there are so many eggs and sperm around with slightly different DNA. If everything hadn't gone pear shaped, there would have been different combinations made, and plenty of people, but not specifically me.
When I explain my view to people, they often think I am saying that sex is wrong or bad or something. I don't mean that at all. God created intercourse to be beautiful. But we are all descended from people who have resulted from sexual sin. Everyone has prostitution, adultery, rape or something in their ancestry at some stage. Even having multiple wives like Jacob did is something I can't see happening in a perfect world. Not to mention all the children from Levirate marriages whose first child was considered the child of the father's brother/relative (the woman's first husband who died childless).
Would you have been born if sin never existed? Would your great great great grandparents have slept together? And then would you have been created?
Jesus Himself would have never needed to be born in the flesh either. If sin never existed, there would be no reason for Him to bother. Matthew goes out of his way to mention all the unmentionables in Joseph's lineage. Tamar (who slept with her father-in-law by deception), Rahab (a prostitute), Ruth (from a despised race), Bathsheba (an adultress), and Jeconiah (who was cursed). If you want to read about the Curse of Jeconiah and the different explanations for the differences between Matthew's and Luke's genealogies the following article is a fascinating read - The Two Genealogies of Jesus, the Curse of Jeconiah, and the Royal Line of David posted on the website The Jesus Question.
So there are plenty of scandals in Jesus's family ancestry. He even wears the (assumed) shame of His own birth. People who did not believe Mary's virgin birth story assumed that Jesus was a bastard - Joseph's son conceived out of wedlock. And it's understandable. God had to send an angel to Joseph personally to convince him to continue past the betrothal and marry her. Until that point, Joseph had decided on divorce (a legal requirement of betrothals, unlike engagements today). He must have been so hurt by Mary's appearance of unfaithfulness.
If you are feeling the guilt of sexual sin in your own life or family history, take this record in Matthew as encouragement, and remember, none of us today would have been born without sin including Jesus.
I tried to think of a good song to include with this devotional - it seemed like a tough topic to find a song about. But God had it covered. This song popped up in my random Spotify feed that day, and although it was written as a love song, like a lot of love songs it can easily refer to God.
What do you think? Should you be grateful for sin because ultimately you wouldn't exist otherwise? I'd be intrigued to read your responses below in the comments.
In Genesis 37, Joseph is given a special coat by his father - his brothers get jealous and sell him as a slave.
Memory Verse: “Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”” Genesis 37:19-20
Materials needed to create the Joseph's Coat quiet book page:
A4 felt background sheet - I used green
felt scrap in brown for the back of the pit pocket
hot glue and glue gun
Betty Lukens Felt book 01 Bible Stories available at Koorong
sewing thread to best match the page
scissors!
Cut out all the pieces for this page, and the page itself from the set. The Betty Lukens FAQ section has posted a cutting tips PDF.
Cut out a section of brown felt to cover above the pit pocket to as far down the page as you can manage whilst leaving room to sew the page onto the background felt sheet. Hot glue it in position along the top edge of the pit and down both sides and the bottom to form a pocket for the small Joseph.
Sew the page onto the background felt along three sides, leaving the top edge open to form a pocket. Pop the pieces inside (or better yet, play with them)!
Finished!
The pocket is not big enough so Joseph looks like he could easily get out!
Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.
A very easy quiet book page!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Genesis 37 - jealousy can lead to devastating results
Imaginative play - tell the story of Joseph - his dreams, his coat of many colours, and how he was treated badly by his brothers and sold as a slave to Egypt
Dress up - dress Joseph in his coat of many colours
Colours - name all the colours on Joseph's coat
Inserting - insert Joseph into the pit pocket
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
What a difficult life for a young man to find himself in suddenly! One minute the favourite son of a wealthy man, the next a slave in a foreign country. Nevertheless it seems that his father had brought him up with good values despite his favouritism because we find Joseph sticking to his God and his morals through some very tough circumstances.
Whilst scripture doesn't say what the heinous crime that Joseph dobs his brothers in to their father for, the rabbis have recorded it in chapter 38 of the Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer. While you might not believe everything written in this document, the reason Jacob sends Joseph to check on his brothers and the flocks makes sense in this context. Apparently Zilpah and Bilhah's sons were eating the flesh of the animals in the flocks whilst the animals were still alive. Pretty gruesome no matter how you interpret that. And quite a no-no for a group of people who were bound by kosher law to drain the blood before roasting the meat. If they were in that much of a hurry to eat that they didn't bother to kill the animal, I can only imagine what passed through their lips. Eww.
It may be that Jacob's favouritism of Joseph was well deserved. And it may be that the coat was a present to try to cheer him up after enduring the harsh treatment of his brothers, who knows? There is a lot of back-story missing I think.
The coat of many colours is a bit of a mystery. The fact that Jacob made it kinda says to me that he was still a bit of a Mama's Boy. Weaving was a woman's job. It takes longer to weave using many colours, so that increases it's value. But was the coat made of many colours? Scholars are not so sure. The word is largely unknown in the Bible, being used only one other time in connection to Tamar the daughter of King David. Some think that this coat was 'girly', and I think I remember reading in Robert Alter's commentary on Genesis that Jacob calls his other sons 'handsome' but Joseph he calls 'beautiful', presumably because he looked like his mother Rachel. While this is all very interesting, I can hardly imagine Joseph's brothers being jealous of a 'girly' robe.
Other scholars I read said that the word more likely refers to the arm-length of the robe. I guess it would also take longer to weave a coat with sleeves in it, so it would also be more valuable. It probably reached to the palms of his hands, and a coat like that was not made for hard work. Perhaps Jacob kept him from hard work in order to keep him from being corrupted by his brothers. Or perhaps he wanted to keep him home to teach him God's word as it had been revealed that Joseph was to be the leader of the family through his dreams.
Whatever the case, Joseph's coat has a story to tell. And I am sure his brothers enjoyed dirtying it up on him. But they couldn't stop God's plan for Joseph. In fact their attempt to rid themselves of him ultimately helped Joseph achieve his greatness. So next time you are in a tough situation, just remember that all things work together for the good of those who love the LORD (Romans 8:28) just as they did for Joseph.
The same is true for the story of Jesus. It is well-known that Joseph is a type of Christ. There are many similarities occurring within the two stories. Whilst Jesus started out as the favoured Son of God in Heaven, like Joseph He lost His glory, descending to Earth and was sold, betrayed, and was unrecognised by His brethren, but will ultimately take up a position of power once again. The Jewish leaders betrayal of Jesus ultimately helped Him achieve God's plan of reconciling man to Himself by providing for our sins, just as Joseph's betrayal ultimately led to reconciliation with and provision for his brothers.
Hanging Tahlia's felt board on her bedroom wall was a big achievement! After we set it up with a calendar ready for starting school, she decided to use the free space to pretend to do her makeup for school in the morning - just like Mummy does for work.
Which inspired me to make her this...
... her very own makeup palette!
You can make your own with our free template available here.
I used craft glue to attach the felt to the background, and hot glue to attach the plastic pocket. You don't have to attach them at all if you don't want to - aside from the plastic pocket of course.
Tahlia really enjoyed adding the glitter glue to the top of the oval eye shadows. I won't pretend I didn't enjoy it either. It really makes the item, really topped it off.
This activity provides a great opportunity to learn shapes and colours. And I suppose if you don't attach the items, you could use it to learn spatial awareness too.
I refuse to spell colour the American way... the English way is correct in Australia, and so much more rich and colourful - pun intended!
It does fall off the felt board easily when played with, which is disappointing. It is just too heavy. It will stay up for days when not being played with though. If you have one of those A-frame or slanted felt boards, it would work wonderfully I'm sure. Here is our tutorial on How to Make a Felt Board.
I will probably convert the makeup palette into a quiet book page once it gets neglected like most toys do eventually. Hopefully that will spark another bout of imaginative play, and I'll get twice the value out of my efforts.
Micah chapter 5 predicts the birth place of the Messiah - Bethlehem.
Memory Verse: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From everlasting.” Micah 5:2.
.
Materials needed to create the Oh Little Town of Bethlehem quiet book page:
A4 felt background sheet. I used red.
Betty Lukens Felt book 01 Bible Stories available at Koorong.
sewing thread to best match the page
scissors!
Cut out all the pieces for this page and the page itself from the Betty Lukens set. The Betty Lukens FAQ section has posted a cutting tips PDF.
Sew the Betty Lukens page onto the background felt along three sides, leaving the top edge open to form a pocket. Pop the pieces inside the pocket (or better yet - play with them)!
Finished!
Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.
A very easy quiet book page!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Micah 5 - Learn about how Jesus fulfilled this Old Testament prophecy by being born in Bethlehem
Imaginative Play - Which of the animals is going to get to see Baby Jesus first?
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
Bethlehem can mean "House of bread" in Hebrew. Here we have the bread from Heaven / bread of life (John 6:25-59) in a very impoverished 'house'. I guess when you see the Majesty of God, it shows off how wretched, poor, blind, naked and filthy our condition really is.
This prophecy is just one of over three hundred that Jesus fulfilled. The video below talks about the mathematical possibility of Jesus fulfilling just six of those, one being a 1 in 3968 chance of being born in Bethlehem.