Lapbooks For Everyone

Our first lapbook and resources to help you make yours with children of any age!


When my older son had just turned 3 years old, we made our first lapbook. We spent a week doing activities related to the book, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie", by Laura Numeroff. These activities were based on a book by Dinah Zike called, "The Big Book of Books and Activities", which gives instructions for making many different little books with a variety of information. We combined these books into a shutter-folded manila folder which is called a lapbook, shutterfold book, or several other names, depending on who you're talking to. The lapbook serves as a lasting reminder of what my son learned. Although the book we read was a library book, my son can go back to this lapbook and relate the story from memory. It's a great teaching tool for all ages! It's very inexpensive, too, as it only requires basic office supplies to complete. (You can visit www.Dinah.com for more information on Dinah Zike and to learn about her other publications.)

If you'd like to take a look at our "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" lapbook and see how we put it together, please visit this page.

There are many, many resources on the Internet to help you make your own lapbooks. I have gathered some here in an extensive list which should be enough information to keep you busy for quite some time! Don't let it overwhelm you. A younger child will need more of your assistance, but older children should be able to make decisions on what to include in their lapbooks and choose appropriate 'mini-books' for their items. This is a chance for them to be creative - take advantage of it!

I encourage everyone to try this approach. It's a great hands-on way to gather a variety of information and pull it all together into a cohesive project that you can go back to time and again.

Lapbook Links

General Lapbooking How-To

Mini-book Templates and Instructions (FREE)

Lapbook Examples

Lapbook Kits - Pre-planned sets and ready to print files