Sensory Book

A sensory book is an educational toy whose objective is to activate children's senses and help them acquire new skills and discover new knowledge through experimentation. Sensory books include drawings with textures and manipulative and multisensory activities, this helps to stimulate the brain areas destined to capture information and react to stimuli.

Sensory books have multiple benefits, among them we find the following:

• Promotes the development of fine motor skills.
• Increase hand-eye coordination.
• Develop creativity.
• Encourage the development of simple and complex schemes in the brain.
• Facilitate the understanding of didactic concepts.

In this instructable we will make a sensory book with 5 eye-catching activities, knitting in wool (and various fibers) by hand with the two-needle technique mainly.

To make this sensory book, first we will weave the pages of the book and after joining them we will build the activities on each page.

Let's grab some materials and make a Sensory book!

Materials

To make a sensory book we need different types of fibers, specifically in this tutorial we will use the following materials:

• Wool of different thicknesses and textures
• Cabuya
• Decorative ribbon for weaving
• Decorative yarn
• Buttons

Tools

The required tools are:

• Knitting needles number 5
• Crochet needle numbers 6 and 8
• Wool needle
• Scissors
• Sewing needle
• Meter

The front and back cover of the book is made from a single piece of hand-knitted. This cover is made with the "columnas" stitch as follows:

Dimensions

Cast on 35 stitches with number 5 needles and knit 38 cm long. (https://youtu.be/x6QxbK7VLq8)

"Columnas" stitch

The stitch consists of two turns that are repeated.

• First row: all stitches are knitted.
• Second row: knit 4 stitches, purl 3, knit 3, purl 3 and knit the last 4 stitches.

To make the title of the book you must crochet each letter in chains and then sew them to the cover with the sewing needle. (https://youtu.be/7puVdyxTmn8)

Each of the sheets that make up this book are woven with a different stitch and color, I will explain each one below.

After finishing weaving all the pages of the book, we sew them in half. (https://youtu.be/XH9uyzoddvY)

First sheet (blue color)

It is done with the "rejilla tupido" stitch, as follows:

Dimensions

Cast on 35 stitches with number 5 needles and knit 18 cm long.

"Rejilla tupido" stitch

This stitch consists of 4 rows that are repeated.

• First row: First knit, then knit, purl, knit, purl, last knit. (https://youtu.be/1_u32o7j0AU)
• Second row: first knit, then purl, knit, purl, knit, last knit. (https://youtu.be/LPiw_W3B0GU)
• Third row: knit all stitches. (https://youtu.be/6wY-DEY5Nvo)
• Fourth row: all stitches knit. (https://youtu.be/IlHKb3Ii-Ys)

Second sheet (red color)

It is done with the "tejas" stitch and in the following way:

Dimensions

Cast on 35 stitches with number 5 needles and knit 16 cm long.

"Tejas" stitch

This stitch consists of 4 rows that are repeated.

• First row: first slip stitch without knitting, then knit 4, slip stitch without knitting, knit 4, slip stitch, last stitch purl.
• Second row: first slip stitch without knitting, then purl all.
• Third row: first slip stitch without knitting, then purl 4, slip stitch without knitting, purl 4, slip stitch without knitting, purl 4, last stitch purl.
• Fourth row: first slip stitch without knitting, then purl all.

Third sheet (white color)

It is done with the "ajedrez" stitch and in the following way:

Dimensions

Cast on 34 stitches with number 5 needles and knit 14 cm long.

"Ajedrez" stitch

This stitch consists of 4 rows that are repeated.

• First row: first slip stitch without knitting, then knit 2, purl 1, knit 2, purl 1, last stitch purl.
• Second row: first slip stitch without knitting, then purl 2, knit one, purl 2, knit one, last stitch purl.
• Third row: same as the first row.
• Fourth row: all stitches knit.

Finally, bind off knitting. (https://youtu.be/x0yi3VfDF-A)

Fourth sheet (green color)

It is done with the "andaluz" stitch and in the following way:

Dimensions

Cast on 35 stitches with number 5 needles and knit 16 cm long.

"Andaluz" stitch

This stitch consists of 4 rows that are repeated.

• First row: all stitches knit. (https://youtu.be/5Qlqwg5p5hk)
• Second row: purl all stitches. (https://youtu.be/u0cK4tDpoJY)
• Third row: knit all stitches. (https://youtu.be/U4GcgEEdrTs)
• Fourth row: knit the first stitch, then knit the sequence knit, purl, knit, purl, knit the last stitch. (https://youtu.be/tDoteRIzidA)

In this book we develop 5 sensory activities, each one of them reinforces a different skill in the child.

In the following steps of this tutorial I will explain the function of each activity and how it is done.

This activity reinforces fine motor skills to learn how to tie laces on different garments.

It consists of a vest with 4 eyelets through which we can pass a cord.

Vest Procedure

The vest is made up of two equal pieces.

1. Each part of the vest is meshed with 12 stitches.
2. Knit a 1x1 rib for 10 rows. (https://youtu.be/fsDTplucCXE)
3. Make a buttonhole (https://youtu.be/_7cM8_RVGu0)
4. Knit 6 runs in the same 1x1 rib stitch.
5. Make another buttonhole.
6. Knit 4 rows with the same stitch.
7. Make decreases.
8. Thread a cord through the eyelets and tie a knot.

The objective of this activity is to learn to differentiate textures. It consists of a simple landscape of a desert with a cactus.

Desert soil procedure

The desert floor is woven with rope to simulate gravel.

The soil consists of a rectangular piece knitted in "picos" stitch.

Dimensions

Cast on 20 stitches with number 5 needles and knit 6 cm long.

"Picos" stitch

This stitch consists of 4 rows that are repeated.

• First row: first slip stitch without knitting, then knit all stitches, purl last stitch. (https://youtu.be/wa5hStVPqQ0)
• Second row: first slip stitch without knitting, then purl all stitches, last stitch purl. (https://youtu.be/cqTxCA830kI)
• Third row: first slip stitch without knitting, then knit 2 together, purl last stitch. (https://youtu.be/FpAnradh-2s)
• Fourth row: first slip stitch without knitting, then take the connecting stitch between each stitch, transfer it to the left hand needle and knit it, knit the next stitch and so on the entire row, purl last stitch. (https://youtu.be/d3IbrQeQOIk)

Cactus procedure

I knitted it with a ribbon that has a thin gold thread that gives it a rough texture.

The cactus consists of a piece woven in "arroz" stitch.

Dimensions

Cast on 7 stitches with number 5 needles and knit 9 cm long.

“Arroz” stitch (https://youtu.be/bhT2HddFSDE)

This stitch consists of 2 rows that are repeated.

First row: knit one stitch, one purl stitch, one knit stitch, one purl stitch, and so on.

Second row: if we finish the previous row with a knit stitch, we start this row with a knit stitch, and vice versa. And then alternate the purl and knit stitch.

Sun procedure

It consists of a piece knitted in chain with crochet and sewn to the page in a circle shape.

I used chunky gold thread to give the activity another kind of texture.

The objective of this activity is to recognize soft textures so that the child travels through the different thermal floors. It consists of a simple landscape of a forest with a tree on grass.

Grass procedure

The grass is made with green strands of different shades laying them in carpet type.

Tree trunk procedure

Dimensions

Cast on 5 stitches with number 5 needles and knit 13 cm long.

It consists of a piece knitted in "arroz" stitch (explained above) with a wool with brown and white balls.

Tree leaves procedure

This tree is a weeping willow, therefore the leaves are long and drooping.

These leaves are threads that hang from the branches of the tree.

In this sensory activity the child can explore and learn geometric figures. It consists of a house made up of the main geometric figures.

House procedure

The house is made with crochet chains sewn to the page in the shape of squares, triangles and rectangles. (https://youtu.be/LHo5l5lUr90)

This is a basket in which different geometric figures are kept that fit into the house from the previous activity.

Basket base procedure

It consists of a piece knitted in "rice" stitch.

Dimensions

Cast on 19 stitches with number 5 needles and knit 9 cm long.

Basket strap procedure

It consists of a piece knitted in "rice" stitch.

Dimensions

Cast on 2 stitches with number 5 needles and knit 25 cm long.

Geometric figures procedure

It consists of knitting a triangle, 2 squares and a rectangle in "rice" stitch.

Triangle dimensions

Cast on 11 stitches with number 5 needles and decrease 2 by 2.

Square dimensions

Cast on 4 stitches with number 5 needles and knit 3 cm long.

Rectangle dimensions

Cast on 4 stitches with number 5 needles and knit 4 cm long.

The objective of this activity is to identify the colors by inserting each "candy" in the rectangle of the corresponding color.

Rectangle procedure

It consists of 4 equal rectangular pieces knitted in "musgo" stitch.

Dimensions

Cast on 13 stitches with number 5 needles and knit 5 cm long.

"Musgo" stitch

This stitch consists of 1 row where all stitches are knitted.

"Candy" procedure

It consists of crocheting 4 long chains with the colors that correspond to each rectangle.

We roll one end of the chain and sew the other end to the top center of the book pages.

This activity is used to identify the sizes of the parts of a cat.

Cat procedure

It consists of weaving several crochet chains and sewing them to the page in a circle shape for the cat's body, and in a triangle shape for its ears. (https://youtu.be/kBQLaFukJDI)

For the book clasp we must cast on 13 stitches with number 5 needles and knit 15 cm long (https://youtu.be/W2kbad9hoHA). At one end we must make a buttonhole (https://youtu.be/xeND83cnpoM).

On the cover of the book we sew a button.

The sensory book is now complete!

You can create the sensory activities you can imagine and add them to the pages of the book.

I hope you've enjoyed this look at making a Sensory book, and that you'll try making one yourself!