Make Magic: A Simple Way To Create A Book About Your Child

How can we help our children develop a positive view of themselves?

A simple way is through photographs. According to Teaching Early Concepts with Photos of Kids by Geyer and Geyer, photographs can help children develop self-awareness as they “see themselves as a person with a past, present, and future” (page 6).

Self-awareness can lead to high self-esteem. I would love to give that gift to my children.

With the hundreds of pictures we take with our digital cameras, we can easily nurture our children’s self-image and self-esteem and make magic at the same time. Making a special book where your child is the star will promote cuddle-reading-time, love of learning, and depending on the content that you make, early childhood concepts too.

Here are six easy steps to make and enjoy your own book, making reading time more magical:

1. Think of a storyline, or better yet, a title to guide you. Titles we have and which Little T asks for by name are A Day With Little T, Little T Goes to the Farm, Little T Turns Two, To Little T with Love from Mama

2. Prepare the book that you will use. It can be a slip photo album or a scrapbook.

3. Take and print the pictures that you need.

4. Write and print your story. Include concepts that your child is learning. Examples would be:

Wake up little sweetheart! – for the waking up picture in A Day with Little T
She sees 1 cow. – when we went to a farm and she was learning how to count
And drinks some milk. – part of A Day with Little T
She can go UP the stairs all by herself. – celebrates a new accomplishment
What a pretty, cakey face! – for a picture of a cake-filled face; this always makes Little T laugh when we read it

5. Arrange the words and pictures in your book.

6. Put your book on the shelf together with your child’s other books. It will be an instant favorite!