Best Children's Calendar and Cloth Activity Book for Toddlers

Recently, I've joined a co-op preschool for "Rocket" with a few of my friends. Their husbands all attend MIT, so naturally, these friends of mine are very education-minded, and I was so excited to get in on this program in hopes of giving my boy a head start with mothers who also care a great deal about what their children are learning. We rotate every week, each taking turns teaching that week's curriculum. Passed around with the notes and supplies is a big "All About Today" calendar that my toddler is CRAZY about. However, when preschool isn't at our house, he still begs to update a calendar. Good thing we found this adorable children's calendar and a cute cloth activity book from Alma's Designs!! Now we can talk about the days, weather, months, and seasons even when he's not at preschool.

Alma's Designs Children's Calendar

At no cost to facilitate this review, Alma's Designs sent us this terrific Today Is Red Children's calendar and the quiet book you'll see below. Alma's Designs carries all sorts of educational and visually bright and beautiful charts and books for children.

As you can see, some of the pieces were a little bent from shipment and there are some stray strings to clip off the edges, but otherwise, the pieces are pretty sturdy. They are starched and interfaced, and because certain spaces on the large red backing are fuzzy, you don't have to find the matching small velcro square--it will adhere anywhere.

Good thing we've got a few more years before this calendar is outdated! I love that there are so many things to do besides changing the date. As you can see, we're learning about the days of the week, months, years, seasons, and the weather. Every morning, this guy rushes to update the calendar! What a fun thing to have in our house.

Now, "Little Brother" is a little young to understand the rotating seasons and days of the week, but Alma's Designs definitely has younger children covered! We were also sent this CUTE little cloth activity book, also known as a Quiet Book. My boy was instantly attracted to it by the embroidered train on the front.

I grew with quiet books that my mom put together herself. I still have some of them, in fact. They are utterly adorable with such fun pieces and activities, but they are basically in shreds. Snaps have come loose, hand-stitching has begun unraveling, and colored markers have faded. It's such a shame that my boys can't really use them because of the condition that they are in. This book, however, has been constructed in such a sturdy manner and attention to detail, that it looks like it could stay intact, completely functional, and attractive for years and years, as long as the pieces don't get lost. I can certainly see grandchildren being able to enjoy this just as much as my children.

There are 10 pages with a good variety of activities to do: balloons to velcro, shapes to snap, things to zip and button, animals that go in and out of train cars, a shoe to tie, pants to buckle, textures to feel, and a clock to set the time. We sit through THREE hours of church every Sunday, and I'm happy to report that this book was very engaging and extremely helpful last Sunday in church. Tossing this in your bag for outings, grocery trips, or doctors office visits is going to make your life easier and your toddler happier!

Buy it: You can find this children's calendar and cloth activity book and other learning wall charts on their website, or you can get them on Amazon.com.

If you'd like to try your hand at making a quiet book, check out our post about the best quiet book pages and 21 awesome quiet book patterns.

Disclosure: I (Camille) received the wall calendar and quiet book at no cost to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own and may differ from yours. //