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Benefits of Busy binders/Busy books

Benefits of a Busy Book or Busy binder

Busy books contain interactive activity sheets ideal for toddlers, preschoolers, and even kindergarten-age children. It has several benefits:

Improve fine motor skills

Busy books contain lots of laminated activity sheets which require laminated stickers to solve the activities. These laminated stickers are used to stick on each learning sheet using velcro dots. Sticking and matching the velcro stickers and pulling them off makes it fun and engaging for children to practice their fine motor skills. 

“Fine motor skills refer to the usage of small muscles  of the hands and wrist.” 

Busy books also improve hand-eye coordination which is one of the most important precursors to reading and decoding words. The interactive activities of the busy book are like a puzzle that helps children track the movements of their hands with their eyes. 

busy book page

 Assist in developing reasoning skills 

Busy books encourage learning, thinking, understanding, exploring, and problem-solving using their minds. One of the activities which use their reasoning skills is sorting and matching activities. 
Matching activities are great for young toddlers like 1-2 years old. Sorting activities can be made simple or complex based on the child’s own pace. These activities are an important part of busy binders as they keep children engaged while improving cognitive skills. 

“Cognitive skills are the ability to reason, think, understand, and communicate” 

So, not only will children be engaged in learning activities, but their concentration and memory will also improve which are an important part of cognitive development.

Keep kids productively entertained 

Busy books contain a variety of colorful activities often with children’s most common preferences like animals, cars, food, etc. This keeps them busy and engaged for a longer time. Thus, there is less usage of screens and more fun learning without children realizing it.
 
To make children more engrossed, familiar themes from surroundings are incorporated into busy books.  E.g. It’s almost Autumn now, thus I made a Fall theme busy book which they can relate to this season. This will encourage more exploration and learning.
 
Favorite themes which most children love are also used in busy books to keep them entertained. My boys are obsessed with dinosaurs so I made a dinosaur theme busy book for them which keeps them busy for a long time. That means one less dinosaur cartoon to watch and more learning with something they love. It’s a win-win situation for both the parent and the child. 
Dinosaur busy book

Explore activities at the child’s own pace and encourages curiosity

Busy books follow an activity-based approach to engage children in educational content, unlike the traditional workbook style. The goal is not to enforce the child in completing the activity but to give lots of opportunities to the child to explore and encourage.

Take 1 activity at a time to focus and grasp the concept if the goal is learning an advanced or new topic. 

Improves literacy and numeracy skills and teaches them basic and new concepts

Busy books heavily focus on Language and Math along with other skills. The age-level busy book focuses on the core topics of English and Math for every age. However, theme-based busy books focus on all kinds of ages i.e. toddlers to kindergarten age, and improve vocabulary as it includes words and pictures related to the theme.

 Encourage imagination and creativity – pretend play

Busy books build creativity in children and encourage independent self-play boosting their imagination. Imagination leads to lots of pretend play, builds self-confidence, and increases intelligence.  
busy book page

Great for children with less attention span(keeps them engaged while helping them increase their attention span)

Busy books are great for toddlers who have a less attention span. We include the most common and loved visuals by toddlers like cars, dinosaurs, and ice cream to keep them engaged. Thus they are engaged more in the activities while improving their attention span simultaneously.  

Uses sight and touch – great for sensory play and as a Montessori material

Sensory play is very important, especially during the toddler phase as it leads to learning through exploration. It builds up creativity, curiosity, and problem-solving. Busy books are great sensory play toys that are mess free and give the same benefits as traditional sensory play. 
Another great use of busy books is that they can be incorporated into the Montessori curriculum. The activities can be done at the child’s own pace of learning. encouraging freedom and independence.  
cvc learning binder

 

Non – messy

This is pretty self-explanatory. Busy books are non-messy. There is no worry about spills or any kind of mess which means no clean-up for the mom. 

Used on long flights and road trips, in doctor’s offices, on a rainy day, or when you just need quiet time 

This is my favorite one. Busy books have been such a rescue during those times when you just need some peace without giving screen time. It can be given early in the morning while you sip your coffee in peace or the evening when you want to make dinner. 

Busy books are also travel-friendly as they can be printed in any size you want. It is mess-free and keeps the child concentrated reducing the tantrums in public. You can also use this on days when stuck at home with kids due to unsuitable weather or any reason.