Little Golden Book Blocks (Baby shower keepsakes and toys for babies)
Together with my mum and sisters, I recently hosted a baby shower for my younger sister. We played lots of fun games but my sister was most excited about the personalised baby blocks the guests made for her baby.
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Of course, the activity involved using Little Golden Books; I think I’ve become addicted to re-purposing the pages of old and worn books.
PERSONALISED BLOCKS
We started with some pine blocks. My husband is a carpenter and he cut these blocks from some leftover pine. Our blocks measured 3cm x 3cm x 3cm. Your local hardware store might be able to cut some blocks for you.
We set up a creation station at the baby shower. Alongside the blocks were pages from Little Golden Books, scrapbook papers, stamps, textas, scissors and glue.
Each baby shower guest was asked to decorate and personalise a block for my sister’s baby using the supplies at the creation station.
Because each block could be unique and personal, there were no limitations on creativity; so even the young nieces and nephews could create one. Guests signed their names on the blocks and some wrote special messages.
LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK PUZZLE BLOCKS
I personally loved these blocks so much that I set out to create a set for my own son, Ike.
I decided to make a smaller set, and just needed 9 blocks to create a grid.
I selected 6 illustrations from Little Golden Books for each side of the blocks and cut them down to size (9cm x 9cm). I even decided to use the text from the story as one of the images. ( I thought this would ensure that Ike would keep using the blocks even as he got older)
I drew a grid over the back of the illustrations and cut the illustrations into 9 squares.
I glued each square onto a side of the block.
This project resulted in a puzzle block set. Children must find the nine matching pieces and assemble them to create an image; there being 6 images to put together.
The set looks great but is too difficult for Ike at the moment. Soon, he’ll be able to randomly stack them but in the meantime, his big sister, Cam, can enjoy playing with the puzzles.
ALPHABET BLOCKS
Children are more than capable of decorating their blocks too. One idea is to create alphabet blocks:
- Glue one alphabet letter onto each block.
- With your child, search through old books and magazines to find images that begin with that letter.
- Ask your child to glue the images onto the corresponding block.
