Activity and craft books serve so many wonderful purposes. They are great for keeping children happily occupied during “down time” that otherwise could be boring, they are a clever way for inviting your child to have fun while learning, some promote teamwork because they invite two or more to participate, they encourage free expression, and great ones even offer hands-on experience. Below I have an ongoing list of some wonderful activity books and craft books that I have run across that are too good not to mention.
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Activity Books
“Travel Activity Book” by Charlie Brandon-King- This activity book makes the perfect travel companion. All the activities center around the theme of travel with pages centered around everything from time zones to passports. My favorite part is that the end includes pop-out postcards for your child to color, write on and send while on vacation. Perfect, right?
“New York Activity Book” by Eshter Coombs- This activity book is of a similar format to the one above. It has the pop-out postcards and similar activities. The difference is that it is centered around one location: New York. It would make the perfect travel companion for a child visiting the city working both as an activity book for “down time” and a travel journal of sorts. Plus, each activity page in the book has two copies so it can work for two children or two different visits.
“The 50 States Activity Book” by Gabrielle Balkan and Sol Linero- This book contains all of your favorite activity book games from crosswords, decoding, puzzles to word searches. All of them are centered around facts about the 50 States and the end of the book includes a fold-out poster of all of the presidents of the Union up until Obama as well as a sheet of stickers.
“Don’t Let the Pigeon Finish This Activity Book!” by Mo Willems- It’s everyones favorite literary pigeon, in an activity book! It includes so much more than your standard activity book games, like paper puppets, games and reading activities. It is pretty much amazing.
“This Book Thinks You’re a Math Genius” by Georgia Amson-Bradshaw and Harriet Russell (out October 17, available for pre-order) – This book is an activity book for older children that is full of creative genius! It includes math riddles, puzzles, activities and more. Along the way your child will learn about tessellas, collecting data and more. Plus, the second half of the book is in “math lab” format with pages and templates to cut out and use for a hands-on experience. (Think creating Mobius strips and 3D polyhedras!)
“Doodle Games Activity Book” by Joe Rhatigan and Anthony Owsley- This book is super clever! It is packed with prompts for doodling as well as games that two people can play together. It is sure to keep one, or multiple, children entertained for a long while.
Craft Books
“Think and Make Like an Artist: Art Activites for Creative Kids” by Claudia Boldt and Eleanor Meredith
“Paper Monsters: Make Monster Collages!” by Oscar Sabini- This book is SO neat! Each page spread contains the cut out border of a monster with a pocket at the top of the page so that you can slip in paper collages that you assemble and create your own monsters. The book comes complete with a large envelop of colorfully printed paper at the back for all your collage creating needs. So much fun!
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