Kids enjoy cutting, pasting, and drawing. If you want to explore some activities to spend time with your child, scrapbooking is an option. Explore how to make a scrapbook with children.

Scrapbooking With Your Child

In the maddeding rush of today's life, parents find it hard to spend time with their kids. Evenif they do get the time, they are at a loss on what all activities to indulge in. For some parents, spending time with their children means going to a park or teaming up with them on the playstation. Only a few parents look on scrapbooking as an alternative. Scrapbooking is the best way to channel your child’s energy towards a creative and constructive end. It is also an excellent way to spend time with your kids. Other than being a great hobby, it is also an effective way to add force to the skills that are learnt at school. For kids, scrapbooking is a very creative way to treasure their memories, which they can cherish later in their life. It holds more weight today, as kids nowadays tend to spend more of their time playing computer games or surfing TV channels, rather than doing something creative. All the aspects of scrapbooking -  cutting, pasting, and designing - not only give a creative stimulus to your children, but also develops their fine motor skills. To know more on scrapbooking with your child, go through the lines given below and explore the various tips listed therein.
 
How To Make A Scrapbook With Children
 
Young Children
  • Determine the size of the scrapbook. Kids should work with smaller pages. The best ones can be 6x6, 8x8, or 10x10.
  • Young children like to see the result of their efforts quickly. Small pages are easy to fill and not intimidating.  
  • The scrapbook should be broken down into small chapters of their life.
  • The child should have a chapter in the scrapbook that shows and details of his/her family.
  • Add a section called favorites, which can showcase the favorite things of his/her life at that time.
  • Along with your child, make another section called 'home'. Here, you can make him/ her put down your telephone number, address and various other interesting facts.
  • You can add another section, like the colors around. One on holidays and festivals can also follow.
  • Add a section on the ‘firsts’ of your child's life, like the first bike, first book etc.
  • Allow your child to pick the pictures that he/she would like to add to the scrapbook. Let him/her make the final choice.
  • If necessary, pre-cut the paper and embellishment. Allow him/her to cut simple designs.
  • Let the child have a say in the design and layout of the scrapbook. Let him/her choose the colors and embellishments. Suggest choices and let him/her take the decision.
  • While working with a young child, it is better to work for shorter periods. This will allow them to concentrate more, as kids find it difficult to sit still for long periods.
 
Older Children
  • For older children, specialty albums, tag books and such ideas pique the interest.Theme albums also work well.
  • Let them create an album based on their interest. For instance, topics like friends, sports, hobbies, family etc.
  • Give them the basic tools and supplies of their own to work with.Later, they can build on their own supply stash.
  • Teach them how to use basic tools like trimmer, tape runner, setter etc.
  • Help them sort through the pictures and organize them into their album.
  • Along with your children, go through the design principles. Make them understand how to pick colors and the importance of jotting down notes and titles.
  • Let them experiment as much as they want to. This is the only way they can learn.
  • Have fun while scrapping with your kids. Use homemade materials as much as possible.

How to Cite

More from iloveindia.com