Slice of Heaven

Home School Idea----Lap Books

Have you ever heard of making a lap book? Although I know it is probably a very old idea, it was rather new to me. I was first introduced to them by some home schoolers who were at the Congressional Action Program (sponsored by HSLDA) when we lobbied our senators in D.C. last year. It is a great way for our kids to creatively display in a compact format ANY subject they have studied.

I have been looking for a way to use it with Eric that he would enjoy. We use the Beautiful Feet curriculum for History, and it often takes us on side-tracks studying other things related to the book at hand. This was a great way for him to put that information together in one place that he can easily share with others. If you want some resources to get started on making your own lap book, just google it, but here are two links that we found helpful.

Templates for inside the lap book

How to fold

This was probably the most excited Eric has been about any project he has done, so I think we will do many more of these!

Pretty much you start with a basic manilla folder and fold it as above. Everything fits inside. We are reading Holling C. Holling's Minn of the Mississippi and have been researching snapper turtles (the main character of the story).

Open it up and on the inside are all of the goodies. Front and center is a detailed drawing Eric did (NOT traced) labeling all of the parts of the turtle. On the left is a series of lift-the-flaps detailing the turtle's diet. On the upper right is a fan-book explaining the life-cycle of the turtle from egg, hatchling, adult and reproduction. Across the bottom is a map colored with the location of the common snapper in the North American continent. Then a mini book about the turtle's habitat, then on the right a picture of a snapper in it's habitat.

Mini book, page 1.Lift the flaps...on the outside is a picture of what the turtle likes to eat. Lift the flap and read a description of it.
The fan book. Notice the background picture of the snapper on the title page. Totally Eric's idea. Pretty cool.
Definitely something for him to be proud of :) And I am very proud of my boy!