Homemade Picture Book

Materials:

1. Stack of old magazines
2. Photocopies of family photos
3. Blank scrapbook or pieces of construction paper
4. Poster Board
5. Yarn
6. Scissors
7. White glue
8. Markers

Directions:

1. Ask children what they want their book to be about.
2. Jot down their ideas. Encourage older children to create their own story. Preschoolers can just make a simple picture book.
3. Once they have an idea of what they want their book to be about, have them comb through stacks of magazines and photocopies family photos to find pictures for their story.
4. Help younger children cut out their pictures.
5. Have children paste their pictures in the scrapbook or on construction paper.
6. Children can add a story and/or photo captions.
7. Help preschool children jot down their story on each page. Limit the story to 10 to 20 pages.
8. If you're using construction paper rather than a scrapbook, poke a hole in the top left corner, and string the pages together with a piece of yarn. Tie in place.
9. Have each child add a dedication on the front page and "About the Author" on the back if they want.
10. When finished, invite each child to "read" his story aloud.