Make your own books

One of the things I learned about children's books in my grad program was how over-stimulating most children't learning books really are.  Number books are notorious for putting a million things on a page instead of just a number and that number of objects.  When we're trying to use books to teach something, the more "busy" a page is, the less kids are able to focus on what they are supposed to be learning.  Your best bet?  Make your own books for whatever your child is learning about.

What do you need to make your own kid-book?

• 1 piece of construction paper or cardstock for the cover
• printer paper
• Crayons, markers
• Any printed pictures you might need
• glue
• scissors

Directions: However many pages you want your book to be (let's say 20) you'll need to divide by 2 (to get 10) and add 1.  So you'll need 11 pieces of printer paper to make a 20 page book.  Put the construction paper or cardstock on the outside of your 11 pieces of printer paper.  Fold the whole thing in half.  Staple 3 or 4 times along the folded edge to bind your book.  Write the title on the front and also on the first page as a title page.  Now you're ready to add whatever contents you want!

There are some added benefits to your kids making their own books with you.

Fine motor skills are among the skills that kindergarteners struggle with the most because they haven't practiced or experienced them enough on their own.  You can choose how much you want your kid to help, depending on their age.  Here are some ideas:

• Let them cut out pictures with kid-friendly scissors (3 yrs+)
• Let them color pictures with crayons (18 months+)
• Let them glue the pictures into the book (2 1/2 yrs+)
• Let them write some of the words in the book (or trace words) (3 yrs+)
• Let your child choose graphics

Charlotte loves to glue by herself

Cutting is another favorite activity

The great thing about making your own books is that they can be about pretty much anything you want them to be about.  If your child is in Preschool or Sunday School, you could choose to create a book about a topic that will support what they are already learning.  

Yesterday we talked a lot about Charlotte and rhyming words.  Without going into a ton of detail about literacy development, it's safe to say: rhyming words are really instrumental in reading (phonemic awareness) and later in spelling (with word study). 

We're studying really basic word patterns right now, so we made a book about words that end with -at.  Charlotte is just learning about reading, so I chose a book with a repetitive pattern.  If your kid has books like this (like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?) you know that they don't actually have to be able to read to recite the entire book :)  Even better!  

Charlotte can focus on the idea of pointing to words as she "reads" them without having to do all of the other "reading" work.  The pattern makes it an easy read, giving her independence and confidence.  This is a book that she will keep in her "quiet time" basket so she can read it to herself over and over again.  Also, one simple sentence with one simple picture keeps it basic and best for learning.

Put your kid's name on the cover!

Keep it really simple with basic graphics.

Only 4 large words encourages Charlotte to point to each as she says them.

While Charlotte is almost 4, Adelyn is just barely 2.  She is learning about things like colors and shapes right now. So, we made a book this morning that reviewed shapes and colors.  I made it in the same simple pattern because she has a big sister who LOVES reading this to her.  However, if you have just a 2 year old, you could simply write the name of the shape at the bottom of the page and leave it at that.  Your 2 year old is looking at the pictures.

Again, put your child's name lots of places :)

I made this pattern simple, underlining the color with a crayon.

You could have your kid draw their own circle on the left!

Charlotte already loves reading this book to Adelyn because she is a super-star sister.  However, Adelyn decided quickly that she also likes to read her book on her own.  Here is what you would want your 2 year old to do: Turn pages and identify colors and shapes.  

You can always laminate the cover of your book to make it more durable.  Of course you want to keep these books where your kids can get their hands on them as much as possible!  Practice at storytime.  You read one book to your child, then have them read one book to you :)

Good Luck!

Let me know how your book-making goes and what type of book you made :)