Children and Scrapbooks

While Scrapbooking is a hobby typically done by adults, some may not realize it’s great also for children. The little ones can dive right in quite easily, utilizing their natural creativity, and ending up doing something they can feel proud of. For children, scrapbooking combines multiple things they may already like to do, such as photos, family events, family history, crafts, stickers, artwork, family memories, and simply doing something together as a family. It’s somewhat like the ultimate family craft or art project, allowing a great deal of personal expression. If your child likes to draw, you can incorporate that nicely into scrapbook pages.

Another reason children may love scrapbooking is when the themes can revolve around favorite events and subjects. Not only friends and family, but also hobbies, school, sports, or any other favorite pastime they would like to remember. You may be surprised how much a little one may take to scrapbooking. How do you get a child interested in it? First, be sure to consider their age, along with what abilities they already have. Most will need some help, however you’ll want to allow them to do as much as possible themselves, do they can take pride in their own achievements, regardless of the quality.

To begin with, you’ll want to have the following items readily available:

• A scrapbook to hold the pages
• Card stock, preferably acid-free
• Scissors ( get kid safe ones)
• A selection of photos
• Decorative items such as stickers

An important first step you may overlook is to allow your child to choose a theme for one or more pages. Give them ideas, ranging from a sports team, their school, a favorite vacation, or pretty much anything. Naturally having pictures to use is something to consider in their choice. Encourage them to draw related pictures to include on the page, and to find actual items which can be attached such as ticket stubs, pieces of a brochure, or an award. Get in the habit of saving these types of things specifically for using later in your scrapbook.

One place to help your child is in layout ideas, and how to crop photographs to fit nicely on the page. If they can’t write well, you can also let them dictate a journal entry while you write it out for them. The older your child, the more you should encourage them to do more themselves. And try to avoid being judgmental of their effort, their skills may be less than your own, but you want them to feel proud of their work or they may not wish to keep at it. Respect their ideas and thoughts, and their self-esteem will build with a valuable end result of scrapbooks the entire family can enjoy.