Purpose: Bookmaking inspires children to be writers. Even if they tell the story to an adult to write or if it is only a book of pictures, the children take ownership of their own stories. The telling or "reading" that they do with these stories provides a stepping-stone towards developing the ability to read other texts. This activity allows each child to make his or her own book and empowers them as future readers and writers.
Materials/Advance Preparation:
1. Cut a piece of tape the length of the bottom of a plastic bag.
2. Place tape ½ along the bottom edge of bag and ½ onto the table.
3. Place the next bag on top of the first bag. Openings should line up.
4. Place another piece of tape along the bottom of the bag (as before).
5. Keep adding bags in order to make a book. Remember that for each bag there will be 2 pages (front and back).
6. When the final bag is added, peel the whole pile off of the table and fold the tape that was stuck to the table underneath to seal the book together.
Directions:
Note: This activity can be adapted for even very young children to help them understand the concept of book. For example, you might ask 3-year-olds to draw pictures of 4 different colored cars and help them make a simple 4-page picture book called "Cars." As children grasp the concept that a book tells a continuous story, you can ask for pictures that illustrate a story that they already know or that they make up (the latter is better). The number of pages in each book and the nature of the task you ask them to do needs to be geared to the developmental level of the children. Some 3-year-olds will find this activity difficult; so long as you don't exceed their capacity to be engaged with the activity, even if they just help you make a book, they will still benefit.
Eric Gidseg
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