Make a Book

Make a Book

Age: Preschool through elementary
Time: An hour or more
Type of activity: Arts and Crafts

Making a book is a wonderful way to let your child express her creativity and use her reading and writing skills.

Materials needed:
Construction paper
Scotch tape
Glue stick
Markers
Yarn or thin cord
Lined or plain white paper
Glitter, buttons, other decorative items (optional)
Paper punch

What to do:

Step One: Discuss with your child what she might like to write a story about. Events and people from her own life are wonderful sources of material. She can also write stories involving characters from her favorite books, TV shows, or movies.

Step Two: If she is old enough to write, ask your child to write down a first draft of her story. If she's too young to write, let her dictate her story to you.

Step Three: After the first draft is finished, read the story over together and ask her if there are any parts of the story that she'd like to change.

Step Four: Make any necessary changes, and then write a final draft of the story on white paper. Use as many pages as you'd like to write the story.

Step Five: For each written story page, have your child draw a picture on another sheet of white paper to illustrate the story text.

Step Six: Gather as many sheets of construction paper as you'll need for your book. Use one sheet for each page of writing. Remember to include pieces for the front and back cover.

Step Seven: Now you'll put the book's pages together. Tape or glue each sheet of white paper to a piece of construction paper. Lay the pages out so that when the pages are open, the picture page is on the left of the text page it illustrates.

Step Eight: Decorate the cover with the book's title and your child's name. You can even laminate each page of the book so it lasts longer.

Step Nine: Using the paper punch, make three holes down the left side of the construction paper. Make sure the holes are spaced evenly for each page so all the pages line up.

Step Ten: Thread a piece of yarn through each hole, and tie the ends together so the pages are held tightly in place.

When the book is finished, ask your child if she can read the story to you or other family members.