Homemade Children's Learning Toys

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Greetings sisters, in the name of the Lord.

 I send you all a cyber 'holy hug' of sisterly love.  Every day that I get to post on here is a joy because it's my way of showing love, care and encouragement to you.  I'm sure the Lord has you all busy in your own ways of showing love to others, all in different ways.
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 13:34-35)

It's one thing we see lacking on the true body of Christ: biblical love for one another....let it not be so among us.

I was emailing with a sister about keepers at home subjects, (making homemade health products) and I mentioned how I used to make and sell them years ago when we were on the homestead.  I then remembered the learning toys I used to make and thought it might be a good post for those of you with children or grandchildren. You can make them, or have them help you. (By the way, there is a need for simple, learning activities for children and they sold very fast after I made them.)

I found rocks that were smooth enough to paint and here I'll show you the camping / picnic concept first. (I'll be honest with you sisters, I see one thing I would definitely change if I were to do it again.  It's not sinful but I don't prefer pink clothing because I personally don't see it as shamefaced as more muted earthy colors.) 




As you can see I'm not the best at painting but that doesn't matter, it's the concept that matters.  I painted a theme picture on both sides of the rocks with different pictures on each.  In this case it was camping / picnic pictures and then I covered them in a sealant so the paint wouldn't come off.  How it works is all the rocks go into the bag and the first person pulls out a rock and starts a story based on the object on the rock then sets the rock down.  The bag is given to the next person and so on until all the rocks are used.  Then you continue on by flipping the rock over until all are used. This could be done with many different themes like farms, foods, gardens, plants, insects, animals.....  
(I didn't do biblical themes because we don't sell things related to God but for your own home use and teaching it would be a great idea.)

This next one is pretty simple, the alphabet.



I painted small letters on one side and capital letters on the other.  (I also added some extra vowels.)  These can be used in conjunction with flash cards with pictures and the child spells the word of the picture.  Or cards that already have words on them and they copy the spelling.  

This one is a math set.  This is a smaller version but for older children more numbers would allow for bigger equations. On the back I painted dots (as you see in the second picture) for those who are just learning their numbers.





These are just a few ideas you could do as projects with your children and I'm sure you all could come up with many more ideas!

The drawstring bags I sewed were super simple and from materials I got from a resale / second hand store, the cost was minimal and they will last for a long time.  They make great gifts as well:-)

Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little (Isaiah 28:9-10)

Have a blessed day.

Love in Christ,
Sister Deb

The biblical gospel...