Picture Book- Toddlers can recognize themselves and their family members in photos, and they love to look at them. When I get new photos, I prefer to hold them while my son looks at them. He prefers to hold them as well. To keep the pictures as good as new, you can make a picture book for your child to keep for himself.

Materials you will need: doubles of photos of people and pets your child knows, contact paper or clear plastic sleeves, colored paper or a small book with blank pages, scissors and glue.

How-to Make it, Step by Step:
-1- Cut the pictures into square shapes around the faces.
-2- Glue them onto the colored paper. This will make individual cards with a photo on each.
-3- Another way you can make it is to glue each picture on a page from a journal with no lines. You can buy any journal with your favorite cover, or you can buy a plain one and put a family picture on the front.
-4- Cover each page with contact paper so that your child will not tear the pictures off.
-5- If you opted for the colored pages, you might want to bind them together. You can staple the ends, but if you have a little extra money to spend, I recommend taking it to Kinko’s. They will bind it professionally for you.
-6- You can even make it into a story book with a plot. Write words at the bottom of each page before you put on the contact paper.

Another good idea: You can use pictures or photos of plants and animals. For instance, if you go to the zoo, take all animal photos and label them at the bottom. This helps to teach your children what each animal is called and what sound they make. You can even turn this into a learning game where they have to make the sound themselves.

Special Recommendations: If you are creating a craft that you want to keep for years to come, make sure you buy acid free paper and never use tape. Over time, the acids can eat through the pictures or leave them brown and yellow.

FYI: The photo books that have the sticky substance on the pages will eat through and ruin your photos. You know, the ones with the clear plastic cover that you can tear off and reseal? If you have photos in an album like this, I recommend changing it immediately, even if you don’t get around to putting them into a new photo album right away. If you want to reminisce with the family many years from now, you might want to make these changes soon.

The Best Part Test out the product. Ask your toddler to read it with you. Watching their faces light up feels priceless.

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About the author: Brooke Hadley currently writes freelance feature articles and has six years of professional writing experience. She currently lives in Austin with her new hubby and their son, Skylar Austin. They expect their next baby, Andrew Ashton, in November. Email Brooke Hadley: PersistentGerl@hotmail.com.

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