Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Preschool Activities: Homemade Books (Writer's Workshop)

By Deborah Pace Rowley

Preschoolers love to create homemade books. I think it makes them feel all grown-up. They are “authors” after all! I have boxes full of the little creations my kids made when they were small. Books filled with pictures and dictated words. Books covered in magazine cutouts and collages. Books with numbers and objects from 1 to 10. Books with illustrations for all 26 letters of the alphabet. Books smeared with watercolors and crayons, colored pencils and finger paints. Homemade books are so much fun to fill!

As I prepared for Writer’s Workshop I found this awesome website full of different homemade book ideas: http://makingbookswithchildren.blogspot.com.
The simplest and most versatile book that Susan Gaylord writes about is the hotdog book. Print out the instructions below or follow this simple tutorial. 

First, fold the paper vertically- hot dog style. (I used legal size paper for a larger picture book, but regular 81/2 x 11 sheets would also be fine.)
Then unfold it and fold the paper horizontally or hamburger style. 
Now hold the paper with the fold away from you and fold one side up to meet the center fold. 
Turn the paper over and do the same thing again, folding the other side up to meet the center fold. 
You should have now created a W that you can set in front of you on the table. 
Take a pair of scissors and cut the center of the W just down to the side folds. 
Now pull both halves down toward the table. 
Crease the folded paper closed so that it forms a book. 
If everything went smoothly with the above instructions, you should now have a 6-page booklet complete with a cover and back flap for your preschooler to fill. Now that you have made one homemade book, I guarantee that it won’t be your last!

Print out instructions on how to make the hot dog book here: 

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