ABC book DIY

I already rambled on during another post about how awesome it is for kids to create their own books. 

Adelyn has been learning her alphabet.  In particular, making an ABC book can be a huge real life connection to the alphabet.  The first time I made one with Charlotte, I "winged it" one letter at a time.  For my 2nd, I got smarter :)

First, the materials I bought/grabbed were:

• Letter stickers (200 pack) - $1 @ dollar tree
• Poster letter pack (78 pack - $1 @ dollar tree
• 26 ziplock bags
• As many stickers as you have in your house :)
• Printed pictures of important people/characters in your kids life (A-Z)
• Some like q you can just use whatever you can think of like "queen"
• Elmers glue
• 1 piece of cardstock or construction paper (for a cover)
• 14 pieces of printer paper

First, before you start making the book, setting yourself up for success by making a "grab bag" for each letter will REALLY save time!  I actually made two sets of grab bags at once and gave one to my niece.

Pack of little "sticker" capital letters

The package the bigger letters came in

Ok - lay out 26 sandwhich sized ziplock bags and use a sharpie or pen to write the letter on the outside of each bag.  Then, distribute the poster letters and sticker letters so they are on top of their corresponding bag.

Here they are sprawled across my counter (I have helpers :)

See?

 Then, put any stickers that might correspond to that letter on top too. I'm not sure about you, but we have a MASS of stickers in my home, so this was quite easy. Add the printed picture of the important people.  Then put all of the stuff in each bag.

Make the book by folding a piece of card stock and 14 pieces of printer paper on the inside.  Staple 3 times on the crease to bind it and you're done!  Don't forget to add a title and your child's name to make it their own.

For T we found tinkerbell, train, tire

This is our "A" page with Adelyn & her cousin Autumn's picture

"B" has boots the monkey and backpack (crucial people in our lives ;)

Our C page has a picture of our sister and stickers of cars

D page has our cousin Drew, Daddy, Dora, Diego & dinosaurs!

E has Elmo & Easter eggs

F has a fairy, Flounder the fish, frog, football, etc

For my 2 1/2 year old we do one page in our ABC book each week, although you could go faster or slower depending on the age of your kiddo.  We also do a scavenger hunt (as described in the post about the letter E) after we make our page.  Needless to say, we "read" the book regularly and honestly, the excitement is MUCH higher than any other ABC book we've ever owned or borrowed from the library.

She is highly invested.

All of her important people are here :)