A three-fold busy board

And . . . here's the three-fold "Busy Board" I made for my grandchild. I got the idea from an article about how these little fidget-able quilts are helpful for people with dementia -- a diagnosis that doesn't fit my grandchild -- but it reminded me of similar toys I'd had as a kid myself, and thought that she might appreciate it.  

Even if not, I had a bunch of fun thinking about what I might include, and since I made it entirely with stuff leftover from other crafts, it was good for entertaining one person in our family, at least.

I'd started with the idea of having a quilt with a bunch of different activities.  After I finished three squares, I was getting a bit to the end of my time/creativity, and decided that three squares worked well after all (and plus, my grandchild is turning three, so that's another reason to declare "done").

This is what it looks like folded up, with snaps to keep it rolled up.

The main ingredients for this gift was stuff leftover from the denim jeans my sister gave me: small scraps of fabric, a pocket, and zippers I'd removed for projects uncertain.  I also had a bunch of excess straps that I'd prepared when I was sewing face masks.  

This is what the Busy Board looks like opened up all the way.  

On the left, there is a weave pattern of straps,
with wooden beads on the vertical strips.

You can slide the beads up and down,
and they have to go over and under the horizontal straps as they slide.

I'd also snagged a small wallet from a neighbor's "Free For All" pile.   I figured that would be a nifty thing to have in the pocket. 

And the pocket unzips, for extra fun.

I sewed the wallet to a strap whose other end is attached to the Busy Board, 
so it won't get lost.

I also happened to have a bunch of mini spools.  So I used these kind of like large beads in the right-most square.

The strap threads back and forth through four "tunnels"
I added, with a spool (or a washer, because I ran out of spools) 
at each turn.  

This is more fun to play with than I thought it would be,
because you can't just pull on one spool; 
just like lacing up shoes, you kind of have to
tighten things up one section at a time.

Aside from the zippers on the pocket, the sewing for this project is basically straight lines and quite simple, so it'd be a fairly easy project for a novice at sewing.  

Et voila!  That's what I made for my granddaughter for her birthday this year.  

Update:  Kinderling says, "Bchild loves the busy book you made her! She takes it everywhere! Thank you!

I've been wanting to make one, so this is great"