In a world of instant gratification, teaching patience and the value of waiting can be challenging. We have a brand new way of helping to do so, thanks to the next book in our Shelf Care Book Club series: The book “In Time” by Marina Ruiz. This was published in 2024 by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, and tackles this essential life skill through beautiful illustrations and thought-provoking content. As always, we have create a series of engaging activities to use with the book too. This book aims to help children understand that waiting is not only okay, but sometimes necessary for beautiful things to unfold.
Don’t forget to join the club here – and check out all the books we have within it too in our Amazon shop. You can download all the previous activity sheets on our free kids book club main page.
Before we share the activity sheets – let’s check out the book for you.
What’s In Time about?
This book follows a young girl as she discovers the beauty and value of patience. The story captures how, for children, time can sometimes feel unbearably slow—whether it’s waiting for school to end, or longing for a freshly baked cake to finish.
Amidst the rush and impatience, the book guides kids through the idea of slowing down and appreciating the world. Readers see the magic in moments that take time: animals awakening from hibernation, seeds transforming into flowers, and snails leaving shimmering trails.
This book is perfect for children who often ask, “Are we there yet?” Its relatable narrative encourages kids to embrace a more patient outlook.
Activity sheets for teaching patience
Our activity sheets – and we have a book of 14 pages here for you – offer a range of exercises designed to reinforce the book’s themes and encourage children to reflect on their experiences with waiting and boredom. These activities serve as valuable tools for parents and educators to extend the book’s lessons into practical applications.
One activity asks children to consider what they hate waiting for and why it’s difficult. This prompts self-reflection and helps children articulate their feelings about waiting, a crucial step in developing emotional intelligence. Another exercise invites children to write about a time they had to wait, encouraging them to process past experiences and potentially recognise positive outcomes that resulted from waiting.
Boring can be good
The activities also focus on developing coping strategies for boredom and waiting. Children are asked to brainstorm ideas for making waiting easier, fostering problem-solving skills and creativity. This approach helps reframe waiting from a passive, frustrating experience to an opportunity for personal growth and imagination.
Importantly, the book and activities highlight the “wonders that waiting can bring.” By drawing parallels between waiting and natural processes like growth and metamorphosis, children are encouraged to see waiting as a potentially transformative and positive experience. This perspective can help shift their mindset from impatience to curiosity about what might develop over time.
Creative exercises, such as drawing a “far from boring picture” or creating an acrostic poem about boredom, provide outlets for self-expression and help children engage with the concepts in a hands-on manner. These activities not only reinforce the book’s messages but also demonstrate that waiting time can be used productively and enjoyably.
Colouring pages from the book
The document also notes that while the book’s illustrations are beautifully drawn, some of the colouring pages may have imperfect lines or slight grey areas. However, it encourages children to embrace these imperfections and “go with the flow,” reinforcing the broader message of adaptability and patience.
Overall, this book from Marina Ruiz, along with our accompanying activities, offers a comprehensive approach to teaching children patience and how to cope with boredom.
By combining storytelling, reflection, and creative exercises, the book provides a platform for important conversations about patience, personal growth, and the beauty that can emerge when we allow things to unfold in their own time.
In an age of immediate results, this book serves as a gentle reminder that some of life’s most wonderful experiences and transformations require us to simply wait and observe.
Get your activity sheets here
To download the activity sheets – click the button or the image below:
We do, as always, have lots of other ideas for using books to generate conversations around wellbeing and emotions. Why not take a look at some of the other books that we have used within our Amazon store, you can see them all within the kids book club sign up page.
Shelf Care Books from Apr - Jun 2024
Here are some of the fabulous books that we have already had within the Shelf Care book club - why not take a look at them and their activities?
Fun sad activity for kids: With the Cat Who Couldn't be Bothered
Help with understandn sadness from this amazing book in our book club - we've got lots of activities to go with it too.
Positive thinking activities for kids: The Best Bad Day Ever
Sometimes it is all in the way that we frame things - this book is a lovely read about how we can turn a negative into a positive.
Understanding and addressing kids afraid of the dark: With Moon Bear
Helping our children when they are a little bit afraid of the dark - a wonderful book and some amazing activities to help and support too.
If you are after boredom buster ideas – we’ve got those on the site too, so check these out as well:
Boredom buster ideas from KiddyCharts
Here are some great ideas for busting boredom with your kids - ideas for both inside and out, including some of our amazing daily challenges for kids too.
I'm bored jar for the kids: Never be bored again!
The ultimate activity for kids that are bored - pick from ideas in our bored jar, and see what you can do to spark their imagination!
Free activities for kids: 31 days of fun and free activities for you and your family #31daysofactivities
We have a few daily challenges on the site - this is one of them, do take a look at them all, there are loads of things for any bored kids to do!
Self isolation kids activities: 100+ things to do at home #31DaysOfLearning
We created this for everyone stuck indoors - but it is a perfect list to help us all work through those bored moments within the family, regardless of what's happening.
Don’t forget you need to sign up to get the book – and if we are beyond this month, you will get another amazing book too. Why not take a look at all the books we have had for loads more fun?
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Thanks, as always, for coming to see us here, and do stick around.
Helen
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine!Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time.KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10.It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania.Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on.Get in touch TODAY!