I started scrapbooking the kids’ school stuff a few years ago. For many years, the kids brought home their piles of stuff each June, and eventually I just boxed it all up and put it in storage. Then I realized that the 12×12 scrapbooking format would hold most of their notebook pages, arts, crafts, certificates, etc. So one year I decided to really sort through their stuff, pulling out the pages that encapsulated their work that year, and chucking the rest (when they weren’t looking). That was 3 years ago, and there’s been no turning back. We now have 3 years worth of school memories in great scrapbooks that are easily accessible.

My kids love participating in this project, and scrapbooking school memories with the kids is a lot of fun for me as well. With a little bit of organization up front, scrapbooking is a great rainy day project, both during summer vacation and throughout the year.

Now, I am a digital scrapbooker, but I just can’t bring myself to digitize those great projects and pieces of art. I think it’s because you just cannot capture the pressure of the pencil going through the paper, the globs of left over glue, or painstaking precision to ensure that the drawing remains inside the line. Some projects are definitely better not digitized. Having said that, as a digital scrapbook artist I just cannot help myself, I still retouch and resize the photos, perhaps adding on frames and other elements.

So this year, as the kids are capturing the current memories, I intend to spend a little bit of time each month going through those old boxes and catching up. If you’d like, you can come with me on this journey. Each month I will share some tips (and maybe even freebies) for scrapbooking the kids’ school memories. And perhaps most importantly, I will share tips on what you can do with all those great projects, workbooks and pieces of art that come home all at once at the end of the school year.

How to scrapbook school memories:

– Purchase a 12×12 scrapbook for each child. I have found that since school projects are bulky, the traditional scrapbooks get too full. However; last year we found a 12×12 scrapbook that’s binder style, with a 2″ spine, and that has become our book of choice. Ours is made by “Lifetime Memories”, but check your store’s selection.

– If you are working retroactively, then buy extra pages for each child’s book in order to get better organized. My kids’s scrapbooks are typically in the 40 page range.

– Have lots of scrapbooking papers and embellishments on hand (as well as glue, scissors, gel pens, stickers and other scrapbooking essentials)

– Make scrapbooking easy for the kids by providing them with limited choices. I do this by organizing the pages for them. As they flip through, they find page themes (class photos, Valentine’s day cards, halloween stuff, etc.) and choose which ones they want to work on.

– How to? Fill each blank page (pocket) with photos and mementos of a SINGLE occasion. Only put in as many things as one can reasonably place on a page. If you feel that there is enough material for 2 pages, then divide the photos between 2 page pockets. If you purchased special themed paper and embellishments for this occasion, then add the paper and elements to the pockets. Otherwise, let the kids select their own materials from the general supplies.

– Depending on the child’s age, you may want to trim the photos ahead of time so that all they have to do is place and glue. I also like to resize the photos. As a digital scrapbooker, I work in 8×8 format, and I use the extra space on the 12×18 photo sheet to print photos for the kids’ scrapbooks. As an alternative, check your local Kodak photo kiosk. Mine lets me print 2 - 4 or 6 photos on a 4×6 photo. This is a great feature for the kids’ scrapbooks; it allows them to have lots of photos without using too much real estate.

– Make journaling notes on the day of the event. It’s a great way to capture the emotion of the moment. When you’re done, just slip it into the pocket for a rainy day.

This is the journaling note I set up for my daughter’s first day of school, but you can just have them write their thoughts on a piece of paper.

Journaling note made with freebies from:
Labels ~ AHartline’s Invited Mini Kit (AngelHartline.com)
Friends button ~ LLabarca’s Good Time Buttons (http://loretalabarca.typepad.com)

– Let the kids make their own page layouts. Don’t worry about the pages being perfect. This is all about the kids’ artistic expression, which in itself becomes a reflection of their talents and abilities at that time. My kids take a great deal of pride in their layouts, and love looking at their completed scrapbooks from past years.

Want more?

If this is a project you want to undertake, why not drop by again next month? I will be tackling some issues in more detail, including “sorting through the archives” and “breaking up the scrapbook into themes” long with real life examples. Your suggestions and comments are welcome!