Pages 8 & 9: Mail

*This is probably my most popular page for my kids to play with out of my entire quiet book.

Items needed: felt pieces in different colors for the pencil pocket, the notepad pocket, and some red/blue/white felt for the mailbox. Some ric-rac to decorate the pockets with. A small piece of white pellon (optional) to write a text box (mine says "write a letter, place it in the mailbox"). Once the page is finished, you will want to have a pencil, notepad, some envelopes and stickers to stick in the pockets too.

Teaches: Writing, imaginative play, practices writing and mailing a letter.

Cut out the following pieces: My dimensions for the pockets were as follows: pencil pocket- 5.5h" x 1.5w", notepad pocket- 5.75"h x5.25"w. I just came up with my measurements from an average notepad and pencil we had laying around If you have a certain unique notepad/pencil you'd like to use, feel free to alter the sizes. Cut out 2 pieces of ric-rac to adorn the pockets cut to the following lengths: 1.75" long and 6" long. The cut out the mailbox- I just took the design from my mom's quiet book. Here are some sketches she made (back in the 70's!) when she was creating her book. You are welcome to click on them/enlarge and print off to use as a template if you want to make the same style of mailbox:
If you wanted to make a more modern looking mailbox you could come up with your own. To make a mailbox like mine, you are going to want to cut out a big blue box of felt that is about 6.75" wide and 8.75" tall. Then you are going to want to clip and curve the corners and edges to make it look more like a mailbox (take a look at the picture) and be sure to cut a pocket slit/hole in the top center of it. You are also going to want to cut out Red letters for the word "MAIL" and a box out of the red felt that is about 4.25" wide x 2" tall. You;ll also need to cut out a little keyhole ( out of blue and white felt)and white strip (out of white felt), but you can just eyeball these so I won't give exact dimensions.

Directions: We'll start with page #8, the pockets page. You are first going to want to sew on ric rac strips on each felt rectangle (about 1 inch from top edge). Fold over the unfinished ends of ric rac underneath the felt pockets before you sew on the ric-rac and sew it on that way so there is no unfinished edges of ric rac showing (as it will fray) . Place the felt rectangle pockets on the page and sew in place just by sewing on the left edge, bottom edge, and right edge (making sure to reinforce the stitch extra well as the tops of the pocket since that part will most likely receive extra tugging when the page is being played with. You can also put a little text box above the pockets by writing on a piece of white pellon with permanent marker and sewing the pellon onto the page.For Page #9, the mailbox page, you are first going to want to sew the red letters and the key box/key hole onto the big blue mailbox felt piece. Once you've got all that sewn on, you will want to sew around the mailbox hole for reinforcement. Once that is stitched, the mailbox is ready to be stitched onto the page. Once again, when doing this, take into mind as to whether this will be a left page or a right page and place accordingly with adequate space for 3 binder holes that will eventually be placed in the center (you should make sure to do this with EVERY page, just a reminder here since the mailbox takes up so much room and space is limited on this page). Sew the mailbox on by sewing around all the edges of the mailbox. I even sewed a line across the top for extra reinforcement (see picture below).

Place a fun pencil and notepad in the pocket (it fits a 6" x 4" notepad perfectly!). I also stick an assortment of envelopes and stickers (to use as stamps) in the pockets too. Your kids will be entertained for longer than you think! Plus, the little "notes" they write to each other and to you and dad are definitely keepsakes!

Stay tuned for the "ark" and "teepee" pages (my kids' next favorite pages) coming up next!