Homemade Books for Babies: Lift-the-Flap Books

Homemade Books for Babies: Lift-the-Flap Books
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Instilling a Love of Books

It is simple to make bright and interesting books that will keep infants and young toddlers entertained for hours while also increasing

their vocabulary and recognition of many objects. These ’lift-the-flap’ pages can be used together as a book.

With infants we need to use books with singular words or phrases to help capture their attention and learn new words all the while instilling a love of books and reading from birth. Books can be expensive especially for infants and young children. Some parents cannot waste the money knowing that many of the books will end up being eaten and ripped. Why not save the expensive special books for preschool and beyond when children are better able to understand and make some simple lift the flap books yourself?

One of the best things about the lift-the-flap books is young children love the element of surprise as they discover what is underneath, and with the help of an adult or older peer, will soon learn to label all the pictures they see and use memory to recall what pictures are hiding as they revisit the books over and over again.

A Step-by-Step Guide

  • Decide on a theme you would like to follow. You might choose things you wear, animals, vehicles, personal photos and so on. Photos are great for including all children and family members. Children love to spot themselves and other familiar faces while also building on self-esteem and feelings of inclusion.

  • Use pictures cut from magazines, hand drawn or photos.

  • Use a sheet of cardboard and cut to page size. I found A4 size good for babies. You will need two pieces of cardboard for each page.

  • Use a Stanley knife to cut out the flaps. This is best done on a chopping board.

  • On the other piece glue on the pictures making sure they match up.

  • Write the words (or print out on a computer) to match the object and glue these on top of the flaps.

  • Laminate both pieces for added durability so that they will last with rough little fingers pulling at them.

  • Re-cut the flaps after laminating.

  • Attach each page together by hole punching around outside and weaving ribbon.

  • Finally add the pages together as a book by using more ribbon in the hole punched holes or alternatively leave each page separate and offer as a single page to be read. This way many babies can read at the same time.

Use your imagination and have a go at making other types of books for your children as well. Enjoy hours of quality time with these unique home-made lift the flap books that young children will enjoy discovering and reading time and time again while also extending their vocabulary and enhancing memory.

Source: Information is based on personal experiences.

This post is part of the series: Homemade Books for Baby and Toddler

Let’s look at ways you can make homemade books for baby and toddler. The style of the homemade book with depend upon the developmental age.

  1. Handmade Books for Infants for Language Development
  2. Homemade Lift-the-Flap Books for Babies