Book Week 2014: DIY Photo Bookmarks

When young kids graduate from reading shorter books to “chapter books”, they do so with a vengeance. For many it’s a grand achievement, a sign of getting older, of moving up a level, and of kicking it in the big leagues.

For us carers and parents, we notice a difference too. Suddenly bed time stories become longer, and although more enjoyable, we’re often making bargaining agreements.

| “If you don’t hurry up and brush your teeth, you’re only getting one chapter tonight!”

Of course 15 minutes later, you’re onto the 3rd chapter because, “oh please, just one more chapter” is simply a request too good to refuse. But if your child is enjoying reading so much, and so involved with the story that they can’t put it down, it’s really not a bad thing is it?

Given we want our children to connect to reading, to enjoy reading, and to willingly participate in the process, allowing one more chapter at night is really the benefit of achieving the outcome.

Of course, graduating to chapter books does bring a slight downside. Because when you do finally call “lights out” and put the book away for the following night, you now have to remember your page. And if your memory is anything like mine, you’re going to want to write it down.

Plus, whilst a dog-eared book is a sign of a well read book, many of us don’t like folding our pages. So today I’m sharing a fun craft activity to do with the kids to make these DIY Photo Bookmarks. No more forgetting page numbers!

DIY PHOTO BOOKMARKS

YOU’LL NEED:

PVA glue
Coloured card stock
^we used a mixture of glitter card, ribbed card and plain card stock
Scissors
^make sure they’re kid-friendly scissors
Photos
^i used photos from @hopefornannies on instagram and the kids chose their own photos (not pictured). We had them printed at Office Works
Stencils
^we used heart-shaped stencils but any shape would work

TO MAKE:

1. Gather your items on a nice big table and let the kids pull up a stool.
2. Carefully cut our your desired bookmark shape from the coloured card. You can get creative here and cut a few different shapes and sizes to layer onto your bookmark.
3. Glue the coloured card together to assemble the base layer of your bookmark.
4. Whilst the card is drying, select the photo you’ll be using on your bookmark and trim to fit to size.
Tip: you’ll want to cut your photo to be smaller than the bookmark.
5. Offset your photo and glue onto the coloured card, leaving half of the photo free to be flipped up. This will be the “clip” that slips over the page of your book to mark the page.

A dog-eared book is a sign of a well loved book! #reading

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NOTES:

We used coloured card and shapes to make these fun photo bookmarks. However as always, it is open to interpretation. You could easily go without the photos, or make traditional rectangular bookmarks to slip among the pages. For a further embellishment, you could punch a hole in the tip of your bookmark and thread through some ribbon.

>>> Are you a page folder or a bookmark-er?

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For more in the Book Week 2014 Series, check out:

Book Week 2014: Connect To Reading
Book Week 2014: Best Book Parade Costumes
Book Week 2014:DIY Photo Bookmarks
Book Week 2014: Press Here by Hervé Tullet
Book Week 2014: Geronimo Stilton Review