How to Make a Lapbook

First of all, are you wondering what in the world is a lapbook?

Lapbooks are really fun! Basically they are a compilation of pictures, activities, drawings, information, etc on a certain topic. It is great to have a place to put everything you have learned, made or did. I don't know about you, but there isn't enough wall space on our block to put all the special things they make. A lapbook can be a keepsake. Kids (at least mine) go back and look at them time and time again.



Here is how you make it!

1. Take a folder (any color!) and open it up flat. Fold the right outside edge in to the halfway fold mark & fold. Do the same with the left side.  Here is how it should look.

2. Now if you are making a small lapbook, you are done! If you want a bigger lapbook. Do step 1 twice, so two folders will be folded. Now glue the right quarter of one folder to the left quarter of the next folder. Now it will look like this. TA DA!  

3. If this is the size you wanted, you are done. If you want a REALLY big lapbook. Repeat step 1 & 2 one more time. This is how it should look with 3 folders re-folded & glued together.

When you close the folder this is how it will look. You can write your title, glue a picture, or whatever for the cover. 

Once you have glued, taped, stapled in all your stuff this is what it will look like. Here is our Triple-Folder Lapbook we made for our unit on Caps for Sale. In this lapbook we had:

1. Community Helper Change-up (where you can move 1/3 of page to give the helper a different hat, head, or clothes.

2. How Many Monkeys were we practiced counting to 10 (stapled in as a book inside a book)

3. Monkeys of various shapes glued on (to practice arrange small to large, which one is in middle, which one is left, etc)

4. Monkey Party (Pocket with cards that identified the different monkey parts

5. Monkey Letters (Pocket with alphabet cards to remove & arrange)

6. Spanish colored hats glued on

7. Color Book (stapled book inside book to practice colors

8. Hats for sale (I used sticker Velcro on the hats, tree, and above monkey. Kids paid their 50 cents for a hat and then got to put it on their monkey. They thought it was hilarious & got a lot of practice counting out money!)



There are lots of different things you could incorporate into a lapbook, but those are just a few ideas to get you started!