10 Tips For Successful Lapbooking Experiences

Lapbooking is an excellent learning tool! Any age can use lapbooking, which makes it a great resource for homeschooling families. You can go as deep into a topic as you want. A young child may only study 5 or 6 subtopics, creating a single lapbook, while an older sibling may study 10 or more topics creating a double or triple lapbook. All the while, studying the exact same topic! For a mom of 6 kids (me), this was a dream come true!

Lapbooks do require some preparation. For some, this is where they loose interest. Well, I’m here to tell you that it just may be worth your effort.

Here’s a list of 10 tips that may help make your lapbooking experience a little more doable.

1. Print out one copy of the lapbook’s mini-books for each child that will be creating a lapbook. Only print what you need. Some children may not use all the elements in a lapbook and some of the kids will. Think about what each child will need or use as part of their lapbook before you start printing.
2. Make sure when you are printing, that you print on the right weight paper. Some mini-books may need a heavier weight, such as envelopes for holding lots of pages. It’s not always necessary but I’ve found that they hold up longer.
3. Cut out the mini-books for your children. Many first time lapbooking parents make the mistake of having their children cut them out and at the beginning this is not always a good idea, especially for younger kids. They see it as tedious, you may as well, but you’re the mom :) I promise it will be worth it in the end! (If you have older kids that can cut out their own and will do it, allow them to help you). If there are mini-books that have several pieces, use a paper clip to hold them together.
4. Using  sticky notes, place numbers on the mini-books so you know what order you would like to use them. This isn’t always necessary for every lapbook, however most you’ll find you’ll want to do this.
5. Have 2 ziploc bags for each of your children’s mini-books. One for the unfinished and the other for the finished mini-books. You can also come up with whatever type of system works for you… this is just how we did it.
6. Gather all additional supplies you would need to complete the lapbook. Most lapbooks only require a folder or two, paper, glue and scissors. However, some also need braids, yarn, staples and so on. Most lapbooks will have a list of supplies you’ll need to complete the lapbook.
7. If needed to complete your study, go to the library and check out every book you can on the topic. We used to take a laundry basket or two and fill them to the brim! Some studies offer all the information you’ll need right in the packet, this is especially true with literature lapbooks.
8. Gather any other resources you’d like to add to your lapbooks. You may find lapbooks that don’t include everything you’d like your child to learn, in this case you’ll have to find those resources online. You can also create your own mini -books and have your kids fill those out and add them.
9. I recommend doing about 1-2 mini-books a day. Occasionally we did more than this, but on average we did 1-2.
10. Put the lapbooks together once you’ve completed all the mini-books. This way the kids can arrange them onto the folder how they wanted once it’s completed and they will enjoy it right away!

Don’t know how to assemble a lapbook?

If  you have any of your own great tips, please share them in the comments!