Lapbook: Create a Mini-Book of Your Learning, Present Ideas in a Tangible and Attractive Way

Description

Lapbooking is making mini-books covering details that you’ve studied. After making a variety of mini-books about a larger topic, it is a nice idea to put all the books together into a large folder. The finished product is called a lapbook because it’s large and covers your lap. Learn more here.

What do you need?

• carton
• paper, pens, pencils, crayons, glue, tape, sissors
• maybe magazines where you can rip out illustrations
• maybe a computer and a printer if you want to use materials you found online
• 30 min. to get your kid organized, started and into the lapbooking mood

Let’s do it!

1. Choose a topic with your kid – it could be anything from potato to Black Hole, from Confucianism to Egyptian history.
2. Choose different knowledge areas to set up the topics for the mini-books in the lapbook with your kid.
3. Decide with your kids which mini books they can do completely by themselves and for which they need your help. (You can use delegation board to visualize it)
4. Design, setup and complete the mini-books.
5. Put mini-books into the lapbook. Decorate the lapbook as you like.
6. Take time to discuss how the kids like to set up the framework of the lapbook before you start. Topics such as the timeline, how detailed you will go for the research can be discussed and aligned.
7. Take 10 min. to review the result every evening/morning before you start and make adjustments. For example, you can plan one mini book per day. This depends on the complexity of the mini book, you can adjust the time accordingly.
8. Tell your story: After all this hard work, now it’s time to present. You can showcase the lapbook together with your kid, or they can do it by themselves in front of the family, or you can take a video and you can share with us.

What makes this an agile parenting tool?

• Your kid is the owner of the activity. The parent is just the SCRUM master. No top-down instructions.
• In the end the kid has the opportunity to present the result. This is step is taken from Design Thinking.

Now, think for a moment! Have you listened to a controversial dinner conversation lately, like the benefits and risks of vaccinations, or female entrepreneurs in Africa? Did you discuss something in your family and came to the conclusion that it would be nice to know more about this topic like tulip flowers or Chinese silk? These would be perfect for a little lapbooking project. Do not forget to tell us how it went in the comment box below!