Prime Time With Kids: Make a family scrapbook and fill it with fall memories

Donna Erickson


lifestyle-092816-primetime-photoMake a family scrapbook and fill it with fall memories

Autumn is officially here. With the new season, it’s time to discover something new and different with your family. Even familiar activities can be enjoyed with a new twist now that the kids are a year older.

Whether you take a weekend day trip to ramble through the fantastical shapes of a baffling corn maze, pick out pumpkins at a patch or take in a lively Oktoberfest, there’s something outdoorsy to do for all ages and interests. Even when you step out for a neighborhood walk together, there are colorful leaves to collect, bird’s nests to spot on bare tree branches and juicy apples to discover at your local farmer’s market.

Week to week, jot down, illustrate and save the memories in this artsy scrapbook-style journal your older children can make together by upcycling the simplest of household materials: cardboard from a food box, paper bags, tissue paper and a few screws from the toolbox. It’s fun to make and even more fun to look at page by page, over and over again.

Here’s the stuff you need to make a medium-size 6-by-9-inch “Fall Family Scrapbook:”

  • Cardboard from a 6-by-9-inch or so food box, such as a cracker box (cereal boxes are ideal for a larger size)
  • 2 sheets of construction paper
  • Household glue
  • Paper plate
  • Paintbrush
  • Gift-bag tissue paper in several colors
  • Plain paper shopping bags
  • 3 small screws with nuts

Here’s the fun:Donn

Cut off the front and back of a box for your book cover and back. Cut construction paper to the same size as one side of each piece of cardboard for the inside of the front cover and inside of the back of the book. Glue in place.

Squeeze some glue on a paper plate and dilute with a few drops of water. Use the paintbrush to paint glue across the opposite sides of the cardboard. Tear tissue paper in different sizes and press on the glue, and then pinch it a bit here and there to make irregular textures and designs. Cover the entire surface. Paint a final coat of glue over the tissue. Let dry.

Cut paper bags into pages slightly smaller than the cover.

To bind, poke three holes evenly along the left edge of the cover and back. Make corresponding holes in the paper. Stack the book back, pages and cover. Insert screws and tighten with nuts.

Begin writing your fall adventures, and add flat nature finds and photos. How about composing an original family poem? Write a date on each adventure. If you run out of pages by November, simply unscrew the binding and add more, along with the memories!

***

Donna Erickson’s award-winning series “Donna’s Day” is airing on public television nationwide. To find more of her creative family recipes and activities, visit www.donnasday.com and link to the NEW Donna’s Day Facebook fan page. Her latest book is “Donna Erickson’s Fabulous Funstuff for Families.”