Busy Book Design

Would you like to create adorable busy books for kids, but you just aren't sure how to create all the pieces?

Do you wish you could sell activities for kids in your Etsy shop, but it seems like everyone else is selling 100 pages of activities for $2 a piece? (Hint: The trick is to find a product parents are willing to pay more for - with low competition so that you also get more sales!)

Or do you just simply have lots of adorable clipart - and you'd love to be able to create a busy books to use at home or give as a gift?

What even ARE busy books?
Busy books, also called quiet books, are a set of interactive activities that help young children develop important skills, such as counting, matching, and fine motor skills. The book itself serves as a location for the activity, which the child completes by attaching little cutouts to the page. With a printable busy book, parents can print the pages, cut out and laminate the cutouts, then attach little Velcro dots to both the pages and the cutouts. The result is a set of activities perfect for quiet time, travel, or any time when little hands and minds need to stay occupied.
Do I need Canva Pro?
Nope! Every technique used here is available in the free version of Canva. Anything that's not possible in Canva, we'll handle in Photopea, which is a FREE program.
Will this course help me sell PHYSICAL busy books?
You of course CAN physically print the books, make the cutouts, laminate everything, add little Velcro dots, and ship it out to your customers. But the great thing about selling PRINTABLE busy books is that you can outsource all that tediousness to your customers. And they ARE willing to put in that time and effort, because these hand-made busy books are often created with care as special gifts.
Do people actually take the time to make all those little cutouts?
Yes! Busy books are often given as gifts, and so the time taken to assemble them is an expression of love. My sister, for example, spent hours and hours sewing a busy book for my son as a first Christmas present.

Other times, busy books are assembled by parents who just really need something to keep their kid occupied. That was me, assembling a busy book to give my son something to occupy the time while stuck in bed during a hospital stay.
Is Photopea scary/hard/expensive?
Photopea is a FREE program, and although it looks a little intimidating at first, I do my best in the course to make it as easy and not-scary as possible. And Photopea will allow you to do some things you just can't do in Canva, like add dashed cutout lines that mimic the shape of a piece of clipart.
Is the course accessible?
Transcripts and closed captions are included for all videos, and all images and visuals are designed with visual clarity in mind.