Making Books to Inspire a Love of Reading
Making books with children can be a hands-on literature experience.
By Jacqueline Dwyer
As a homeschooling mom, I’m always looking to showcase my children’s knowledge in interesting and interactive ways. I’d like to share some simple, inexpensive ideas that have worked for our family.
Lap Books
A lap book is basically a large folder that covers your lap. Have your child decorate the outside of the folder with words and pictures related to the topic of study. Inside the folder, your child can make mini books that include details about the main topic. A mini book is simply a set of papers of uniform size that you staple together. Bear in mind that if you keep the paper size small, you can include many mini books. A lap book about composers, for example, might contain several mini books that cover different composers and their musical styles from time periods across history.
Layered Books
A variation on the mini book is the layered book. Your child takes different colored paper of various lengths, stacks them, then staples them together at the top. The finished result is always impressive! Remind your child that the layers can go up and down or side to side. This is a great way to present related information, as each page covers a different area of the same topic.
Lift-the-Flap Books
Lift-the-flap books are a perennial favorite in our house. My daughter made a flap book for her young cousin, with different types of shoes sticking out from under each flap. Make sure the flaps open in different ways and vary in size to add visual interest. On the front of the flap she wrote, “Whose shoes?”. On the underside of the flap she wrote the name of the person to whom the shoes belong, e.g., “Baby’s shoes”, and drew a picture of a baby. On the last page, she drew a pair of sneakers and attached a small mirror under the flap, so that when the child lifted the flap they would see their own reflection. Older children often enjoy making the flaps reflect the topic of study. For example, my son turned basic flaps into sea creature shapes to enhance a project he was doing on oceans. Under each flap he wrote facts and drew illustrations.
Fan Books
Another simple, yet effective, way to showcase information is a fan book. My daughter is making one of these at the moment for a set of recipes. Your child makes an oval template large enough for an illustration on one side and writing on the other (we fit three ovals on an 8 ½ x 11 piece of thin card). On the one side, have your child write the recipe in bullet points. On the other, ask them to draw a picture or download a graphic. Once the project is complete, connect the pieces of paper at the bottom of each oval, using a paper fastener.
Accordion Books
I find that accordion books work wonderfully well when a children wants to present something as a sequence of events, such as a timeline or steps in a process. The book is simply a piece of paper folded, accordion style. It can fold up, down, left, or right, depending on how the child wants to use it. My son made an accordion book to chart the growth of his bean plants, as part of his science curriculum. Below are some more fun ways for children to make their own books.
Bookmaking Lessons Plans:
Students follow step-by-step instructions to make up to ten different types of books.
Older students make their own journals and scrapbooks that can be used across the curriculum.
Making a Step Book or Layer Book
Younger students make their own step/layer books that can be used for a variety of purposes.