Quilting with Second Graders

Today I am starting a project with Davy's class. We are going to sew 2 baby quilts, which will later be donated to a local charity. I had offered to do a sewing or quilting project with the class last Fall. After the holidays, Davy's teacher told me they would be studying the Pilgrims in March and she thought a sewing/quilting project would tie in well. I can't think of much about today's sewing and quilting that is the way the Pilgrims did it, but maybe I can explain to them that people used to have to do it all by hand. I would like to find a relevant book to read to them, too. I can only think of Ox Cart Man or The Quiltmaker's Gift- do any of you have another suggestion?

I wanted the fabrics I chose to be cheerful and bright, with a childish (but not too babyish) theme. For the girls, I found this adorable Owl print with terrific colors for co-ordinates. I love that the owl has polka-dots and I was able to find a pink polka-dot fabric. Each child will sew 1 or 2 4-patch squares. I have pre-cut everything.

For the boys, I found this terrific Dinosaur print. Again, it has nice bright colors for the co-ordinates. I found some very soft flannel for the backing, too.

And here's my very fancy rendition of the quilt's layout. The 4-patches will alternate with squares of the focus fabric. The squares are 8", so a 5x5 quilt will be 40" square. I like that size, because you can get away without piecing the backing. 
I am packed up and ready to go. I'm not sure if this project will take a few days or a few weeks! I'll be back soon to show you Andy's finished Easter outfit. It is really cute- now I just need to take pictures!