Homemade book of found treasures

HOMEMADE BOOK of FOUND TREASURES

We are a family that likes to hike, camp and just generally be moving outdoors. So, we try to keep our kids as outdoors and active as we can. I mean, The Dad and I need them to keep up, for goodness sake! (Just kidding. Kind of.) Like most parents, we get the young'ens on neighborhood walks as early as they start walking. Sure, they just start with just a half a block at first but they slowly build their strength and interest up. I try to think of fun, engaging ways to keep their interest peaked before, during and after a walk so that they are excited for our next outing. When my oldest was in the early stages of the "pointing and naming", I brought some treasures home from a neighborhood walk and I made this simple, homemade book for her. She loved it. It taught her some outdoor vocabulary and it was one of her first experiences as a young reader of "reading" her book to Daddy.  

After our walk, I laid out all of our souvenirs to see everything had collected . It is likely you might return with 300-some odd items. (Kids love to collect!) I picked the best samples of what we had and tried for a decent variety. Once I had the final cut, I took out a piece of foam board for each treasure. Then, I cut the piece of foam to fit into a sandwich-sized baggies. 

I attached the little treasure to a piece of foam board with either glue, tape or both depending on the item.

I wrote the name of the outdoor treasure below it.  Then I put each piece of foam into it's own baggie and sealed it. 

The treasures we collected were a rock, bark, an acorn, a leaf and a stick. 

For this book, I poked holes right underneath the sealing strip of the baggies and then looped string through the holes. I tied them tightly and PRESTO! A homemade book! 

We only read this book over and over. It didn't take long before Big Sister was reading this one on her own. 





Thank you so much for reading!