Green Options

Nevermind that I couldn’t draw a lifelike picture to save my life–I bought the whole family little sketchbooks for Christmas, including myself (don’t you love presents that you buy for yourself? Of course, you could also make a book, if you’ve a mind to). A sturdy black cover, an elastic band to hold it shut, and pages and pages wonderfully blank.

At first I wasn’t terribly certain what I would do with my sketchbook. But working beside my little girls, as they sat down to draw pictures in their books, I had to do something with my hands, so I started to make a list.

It’s the best thing that ever happened to my craft work.

A little sketchbook that you can carry around, and a little roll of colored pens: this is all you need to record inspiration as it happens.

Here’s what you can write in one:

Once kids understand that books are objects that contain words and/or images organized onto pages, and that pages are generally looked at in a particular order (reading and repetition reinforce these concepts–if you’re interested in ideas, here’s my latest list of good books for good kids), it can be fun to empower them by giving them a blank book all their own to write and illustrate. And when you do this, it’s nice to not necessarily have to buy a commercially-made blank book, but to make your own out of scraps around your house, also teaching your children how books are created and demonstrating how they, too, can create what they need.

You will need: one piece of 8.5″x11″ cardstock (here’s an example), new or recycled from a cereal box, old book, sturdy magazine cover, etc.; 5 pieces of 8.5″x11″ typing paper, new or scrap; needle and thread or sewing machine with a sturdy sharp needle installed