Scrapbooking with your Child

By Elaine

Why scrapbooking with your child?

Children grow so fast that it seems like it was only a few months ago we were bringing them home from the hospital.  Now he or she is in kindergarten or in preschool and has an interest in keeping the little treasures they have made for you at school, or on those rainy days at home.  Now is when you want to introduce them to scrap booking, they will have a place to put their pictures and you can add photos and little notes as your child grows and as the things they put in the book change with age.  It is a nice thing to have once they are grown and on their own so you can show their children what he or she did when they were young.

The two of you can save small things for the book in a box and put them in it on a rainy day when they’re isn’t much else to do.  It is a good time to socialize with your child and show them a craft that they can use the rest of their lives if they wish…  You can also take their big art and using a copier, shrink it down so it fits the pages better.  Then you have a copy and the original to put away for another project.   Boys or girls will scrap book, it is a messy, fun project that both enjoy with a parent!

Equipment needed

There are not a lot of fancy expensive things needed for equipment to scrapbook, scissors, glue, a book either you bought already made or you can make your own for that real homemade touch.  And of course, all the little things you have been saving to do “something” with someday.   Making a book is simple really, use poster board cut to the size you want  to use, most scrap books are bigger than  a normal size page.  Get a hole punch and make several holes in the pages on one side and you can tie them together with yarn, string, or ribbon.  Another type is using poster board for the cover and construction paper as the pages. You put it together the same way as the first book. Then you can assemble the items you want to put inside the pages. That can be half the fun figuring out just which your child wants to put in the book

You can have things added right to the pages too, a hand tracing, a foot maybe a decoration that your child wants to draw and decorate.  The projects are endless when you are putting together a memory / scrap book .Grandparents like little gifts like this too from their grandchildren they are treasures that can’t be duplicated.  As you are cutting and pasting in the book you and your child can talk about things you saved and did as a child they will get to know their parent a bit better though a casual but memory building experience like scrap booking.

How tos and pages for your book

As I outlined above the scrapbook can be made of any paper pad or specially bought as a scrapbook if you prefer. Pages can have anything you want to put on them to remember a precious.  Maybe a piece of the outfit that your child wore home from the hospital with a little note about the day, a picture and scrap from the first outing, first drawing ever made and a note about age and where it was drawn, photos too can be added to show things you did together: a ticket stub from the Ice Capades, a ribbon and picture from your first real birthday party or a few hairs from your first pet and a picture make your scrapbook individual and so precious.  In the early years, there is much to put in a scrapbook, so many milestones and things from school; this is a good once a month project.

As your child gets older, there will be sports, school plays,  dances, proms all the way to their getting married but by then you will be doing the book yourself I think. A finished scrapbook of your child’s life would be a nice first anniversary present for them once they are married.  It has taken a lifetime to fill, and you are giving it to him/her at the beginning of their life, a new life as an adult.  I hope that they will continue the tradition with their children when they have them.

Safety First!

When you are shopping for the things you are going to use in your book to cut, fasten and write with, make sure they are child safe. Blunt scissors for paper, stick glue is good as it avoids a lot of spills. But there are times when more glue is needed, or a different item needs fastening to the book.

Fast dry craft glue is good; a hot glue gun is too, but only if it is the adult using it.  Glitter for sprinkling on projects, finger paints and some paint brushes for the little artist are great and child friendly options can be found easily and all the projects you two have saved to put in the book, like scraps of fabric, even preserved leaves and nature items if you wish, will make your scrapbook unique and very special. It will make your book different than anyone else’s  since everyone has different interests and hobbies you will have a library of memories that you can look back on  and remember the fun you had building these memories with your children.

Whether they are your children or grandchildren, it doesn’t matter; they all enjoy the making of memories to have when they are older, or to give as gifts to their grandparents.  Another idea for scrapbooking is for the long distance grandparents since they don’t get to see any of the milestones first hand they enjoy the books too. It brings them closer even though there is a distance between you.  Have fun with your child and make some memories building your scrapbook!