Scrapbook Fun with your Children

Scrapbooking is a favorite pastime for moms the world over. It is a great way to create keepsakes for family and friends. Why not introduce your children to this process? Children love to create and so do scrapbooking moms. There is a way to merge these two creative processes without losing your head. Here are some tips to help you enjoy this craft with your kids.

Tips for Scrapbooking with Children

Take pictures – You will need something for them to put in their scrapbooks. Buy a disposable camera and let them take their own photos. Discuss their favorite things with them. They may want to create a scrapbook full of action figures, stuffed animals or friends. Develop them at any drugstore so you are ready for your big day.

Help them pick out embellishments – It probably isn’t a good idea to let them get a hold of your stash, so let them create their own. They can choose not only the types of things that they would like to decorate with but also the paper they will actually be creating on. Try Disney or other cartoon-filled pages to keep their interest.

Have their equipment ready – For kids, you will probably only need scissors to reshape pictures or sticky squares to attach pictures. Depending on their age, avoid paper cutters and other tools that can be dangerous for them to use.

Talk them through the steps – They probably won’t know what to do first. To help them to understand the process, show them as you do each step. For instance, tell them to affix their favorite picture first in the center. From there, they can add words that describe the picture or the person in it. Adding embellishments comes next.

Don’t get hung up on perfection – When kids create, things get messy. It is not always going to be inside the lines or perfectly straight. Don’t expect too much from them. What you want to accomplish (besides have a fun afternoon) is to get across the basics of the process to them so they can continue this art form as they get older. Applaud them for their efforts at understanding the concept.

Create your finished project – It may take a few weeks to finish all of the pages that they want to put in the book. Don’t pressure them to do it all at once. Kids have a short attention span. When the kids are ready to stop working, pack up the supplies and get started again on another day.

Place everything in an organized place – Part of scrapbooking is keeping everything organized and put away. Create a storage cabinet for them to place their items just like you have. Show them how to protect their pages from getting messed up as well.

Families can have fun together. One activity to try is scrapbooking.