A very easy and inexpensive Quiet Book for older kids

OK - I'm about to make a confession...actually I'm about to rat-out my dad. When I was younger and I would get bored in church (every week), I would scavenge to find a blank piece of paper and a pen.  Sometimes there was no paper, so I would use the free space on our program to beg my dad to draw something.  My dad, who is an artist, would draw various animals, inanimate objects and sometimes, if I was really lucky...a caricature of the bishop or the other speakers at the pulpit. This little drawing was so worth 3 hours of church each Sunday.

Sometimes my mom would find out and give us the "stink eye" and my dad and I resorted to what we would call the "Squiggle" game.  That's when one person draws a squiggle and the other person has to create a picture out of that squiggle. I loved that game. And now my kids love that game.

This is how we play as a family.  I pass out an index card to each person. Each person has to draw a squiggle. Then we set our timer for 1 minute and pass our cards to the left and hit the timer. When the timer goes off we switch cards again for 1 minutes and do this till we get our cards back. It's best if every member of the family has a different color pen so you can see each person's contribution. You'd be amazed at the creativity of your young ones.

My kids love this game so much, I decided to make their own books of squiggles (which we now call doodles).  I found 5x8 spiral index cards that work the best (about $2.49). I couldn't find spiral index cards that were blank on both sides, so I bought the ones with lines.  I decided I was going to make a Doodle book...it will be pre-loaded with my doodles...on one side and fun kid's journal prompts on the other (the lined side) to bring out the writer in them. (I didn't do that for the baby.) So, here's how I did it.

 You will need:

1 spiral bound index card book (I used 5x8)

Cardstock to print the titles of your books

Address Labels (to easy slap in the journal prompts)

Scrapbook paper to liven up the covers.

A glue stick

Scissors

Different colored pens

Use the cover of the index card book as a template and cut out from the scrapbook paper two covers. We will be using this notebook facing both directions.

Then cut out the scrapbook paper and glue it to the covers of the spiral index cards book. 

Then cut out a title plate (mine are 6.5" x 4") and glue that on as well.  The doodle pad title plate should be on the back of the sprial bound index card book because those are the pages that are blank (not lined). I'm planning on decorating the Doodle Pad title plate with actual doodles that I like to do. This will give it more personality.

Now it's time to load the books.  Take a red ball-point pen and just make simple and complex squiggles. You will do that on the blank index cards side.  Hopefully you would have already printed the kids journal prompts on the labels, because then you just have to peel and stick. Here are some shots of the inside.

Each of the spiral notebooks have 50 pages, so I have 50 prompts.  Would you like to see them? Of course, you do not need to use these...you can use your own.

Write a knock knock joke.
The last thing you expect to find in a swimming pool is...
I remember the first time that I...
I'll never forget...
I am the one who...
No one can make me...
If I were sure I'd never be caught, I just might...
My life would be different if I'd never met...
If someone went through my trash, they'd think...
Nothing could have prepared me for the day that...
I want to be famous for...
I'm really good at...
When I was a baby I always wanted...
One place in the world I really want to go is...
I wish I never had to...
If I could have a second chance, I would...
Write about a memory of something blue. Or red. Or yellow. But don't use the name of the color in your essay.
Write about a memory of the smell of vanilla. Or grape Kool-Ade. Or Play-Doh.
Write about the first time you walked home from school all by yourself.
Write about the first time you saw the ocean.
Write about the best Halloween you ever had.
Write about the first time you can remember doing something you weren't supposed to do.
Write about when you had to eat something that you didn't like.
When I used to pretend I was a superhero, I always imagined myself with really cool powers. Invisibility. Super strength. Super speed. But never, never, in all my imaginings, did I ever think that one day I'd really, truly end up with the most uncool power of all.
I'd aways imagined that a talking dog would have a deeper voice.
I woke up that morning to the smell of fried bacon and buttermilk syrup…I knew something was not right.
Ilenia Applecup was the meanest, nastiest, stinkiest and most horrible girl in all of third grade.
Write about an invisible world.
Write about your nose.
No one knows about the _______________ in my pocket.
Write a poem about bubble gum.
Make up a joke and write it here.
Write a short story about a magical toilet.
Write down the names of your best friends.
Write down names that you would like to give to your children.
If you could change your name, what would you change it to and why.
What is your favorite color? Why? Name three things that are that color.
I found a box. It was weird looking and you wouldn’t believe what I found inside….
When I grow up, I definitely don’t want to be a….
If I had three wishes, this is what I would wish for…(no wishing for more wishes)
The weirdest hairdo I’ve ever seen was…
If I could tell my past self something, this is what it would be…
My mother has taught me….
My father has taught me….
The greatest thing that’s ever happened to me is….
If I could go back in time, I would go to…
Once upon a time, there was a huge…
Let me tell you a story about the biggest, smelly ___________ I’ve ever seen…
I love to eat worms with…
Make a Poem out of your name.

There you have it. I confess that I've been known to play a few rounds of "Squiggle" at church with my kids. I just haven't attempted caricatures of the clergy. Maybe next week.