{"id":17488,"date":"2018-03-28T10:00:39","date_gmt":"2018-03-28T14:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/?p=17488"},"modified":"2020-01-27T14:54:44","modified_gmt":"2020-01-27T19:54:44","slug":"what-is-a-lapbook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/homeschool\/what-is-a-lapbook\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a Lapbook?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A lapbook is one of my favorite ways to make topics “stick” in my kids’ brains.<\/em><\/p>\n

When I posted a picture of our Oceans book on my Facebook page, <\/a>I assumed everyone was familiar with lapbooking but apparently that is not the case.<\/p>\n

I’m excited to share how these books helped our homeschool.  Even my adult children get nostalgic when I pull out their old lapbooks.<\/p>\n

I also have the opportunity to share some awesome books created by real life moms (not some fancy publishing company), and hopefully convince a few homeschoolers to try one of our favorite learning tools.<\/p>\n

\"what<\/p>\n

What is a lapbook? <\/strong><\/h1>\n

In Happy Homeschool terms, a lapbook is a really cool hands-on method of teaching your children about anything! You don’t have to be a homeschooler to use a lapbook to teach your kids. Anyone can make one to help reinforce ideas your kids are learning at school, extra curricular activities, or church projects.<\/p>\n

I love them because my kids seem to remember their books learning better than read alouds<\/a> or worksheets.<\/p>\n

According to Squidoo<\/a>, lapbooking is defined as:<\/p>\n

…making mini-books<\/a> covering details that you’ve studied. After making a variety of mini-books about a larger topic, all the books are put together in a large folder. The finished product is called a lapbook<\/strong> because it’s large and covers your lap.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How to make a lapbook<\/h3>\n

These books take on many different shapes and sizes, it just depends on how creative you are or want to be. We use manila folders<\/a> and colorful card stock<\/a> to create our books. I’m not the most crafty person in the world, so I stick to the basics.<\/p>\n

To make the outer cover open the manila folder then fold each side into each other. It should look like the tri-fold boards kids use at the science fair.<\/p>\n

\"Lapbooks<\/a><\/p>\n

Inside the manila folder you can glue or staple card stock to make “pages” or pockets for additional space.<\/p>\n

\"Lapbooks<\/a><\/p>\n

One thing I needed to learn when creating these books was to let it go. (Cue Frozen) Your child’s lapbook shouldn’t be perfect! If you do the work, they won’t learn the material. I had to let go of my perfectionist tendencies and allow my children to make less than perfect books so they learned the concepts. <\/em><\/p>\n

I realized when my kids create lapbooks they are learning<\/em><\/strong>. When I created the book so it was “perfect” they didn’t learn much at all.<\/p>\n

That being said, I did use free templates<\/a> to create our books.<\/p>\n

Once it has been created it is time to fill it with information. At first I thought lapbooks were only for science or history, however I quickly realized they reinforce any subject!<\/p>\n

After years of eyeing it at homeschool conventions I did purchase The Ultimate Guide to Lap Books,<\/a> but the rest of the resources I found for free on the internet.<\/p>\n

If you don’t have a creative bone in your body, many of my favorite publishers offer templates to go with the books. They are inexpensive and many are available for immediate download on
\nChristianBook.com
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

If you are looking for inspiration to start lapbooking I’ve included photos of a few of our books as well as some reader submitted photos to get your creative juices flowing.<\/p>\n

Examples<\/h3>\n

Once I realized that lapbooks weren’t only for science and history, we used them for all our subjects. This book was used with Discovering Jesus in Genesis<\/a>\"\" for our bible lessons. Each day we read one lesson then create a mini book, symbol, or other small craft to put in our book.<\/p>\n

\"Lapbooks<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Lapbooks<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Lapbooks<\/a><\/p>\n

Remember all those leftover scrapbook supplies you have in your closet? You can use that themed paper in your lapbooks. In our Oceans lap book (see below) I turned the manilla folder sideways.<\/p>\n

\"Lapbooks<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Lapbooks<\/a><\/p>\n

This weather lapbook is from Mrs. Jone’s Creation Station. <\/a><\/p>\n

\"weather<\/p>\n

Our summer cloud science experiment<\/a> would be a great addition to this weather lapbook.<\/p>\n

Tina used a legal size folder for this anatomy lapbook. Lapbooks aren’t only for younger kids! Even high schoolers can make them.<\/p>\n

\"human<\/p>\n

You can get the printables free for this human body lapbook at Tina’s Homeschool<\/a>. Don’t forget to check out our virtual anatomy study resources<\/a> too.<\/p>\n

\"little<\/p>\n

Additionally lapbooks are a great compliment to your homeschool read alouds. You can find the tutorial for this Little House in the Big Woods<\/a> lapbook over at Little House Living<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

My (free)  State Notebooking pages<\/a> would be a perfect addition to this US book shared by Marine Corps Nomads<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Reader submitted lapbooks<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jennifer used a lapbook to reinforce addition for her younger children.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Money lapbook (from Jennifer)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Obedience Lapbook  (you can see the whole tutorial on Peace Creek on the Prairie<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Opera Lap book (from Jimmie’s Collage<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Eclipse lap book (from Jimmie’s Collage<\/a>)<\/p>\n

As you can see from these examples, the possibilities are endless! If you would like more resources check if your local library has The Ultimate Lap Book Handbook<\/a>\"\". I referenced it often when creating our books.<\/p>\n

Free online resources<\/h3>\n

Lapbook Lessons:  <\/strong>This free site<\/a> that contains a wealth of resources including templates, resources, printables, and entire projects. However you may have issues with this site if you use Chrome or Firefox.<\/p>\n

Homeschool Share:  <\/strong>This is another free site<\/a> with tons of resources. Free templates and entire projects are available to download.<\/p>\n

You might also enjoy:<\/strong><\/p>\n