Make a Preschool Yearbook

What You Need:

• Markers and crayons
• Family pictures
• Blank book or scrapbook
• Glue
• Tape measure

What You Do:

The great thing about this yearbook is the fact that it’s personal…it can include whatever strikes your child’s fancy. Start things off with a title page that includes your child’s name, age, photo, and signature. Then, consider these ideas for what follows:

1. Self portrait: Preschool brings a lot of change in drawing ability. Early pictures will likely move from cockeyed scribbles to early human forms that look more like big blobs with matchstick legs, to pictures that are a lot more recognizable. At the beginning of the year, ask your child to draw a self-portrait. Leave a few of the following pages blank, so she can do the same thing at later points in the year. You’ll be surprised when you compare the pictures at year’s end!
2. Measurements: How tall is your child? Measure their height, record their weight, and write down their shoe size. For a fun twist, you can also write down more obscure data, like arm span or the circumference of their head. Leave some room, either below each entry or on the following page, for updates throughout the year.
3. Favorite Phrases and Expressions: Preschoolers say some pretty funny things. The next time your child comes up with a whopper, write it down on this page, with the date next to it. While, “No, I want to do it!” or “Burp-o-rama!” may not seem so charming now, it will be fun to know later that your child used to say these things a hundred times a day.
4. Favorites Page: What’s your child’s favorite number? Their favorite color? Favorite book and favorite toy? Who is their best friend? Write down all of the things that make who they are as a preschooler.
5. When I Grow Up: Ask your child what they want to be when they grow up, where they want to live, and what they dream their life will be like. Don’t question their reasoning, just record. If say they want to “live on a spaceship and you can come, too” write that down as is.
6. Gallery: Not sure what to do with all that art work your child brings home from school? Glue it in for a permanent record of how they express themselves at preschool age.
7. Album: Be sure to include pictures of big events, whether a birthday party, your child’s first soccer practice, a special Valentine’s Day project or whatever else is a big deal for your child and your family this year.
8. Words I Can Write: At the beginning of the year, have your child write down any words they can write, unassisted. This may include just their name, or initials, or it may include much more. That’s fine. Leave the next few pages blank. As the year progresses, try this again every 3 months or so.
9. Tell Me a Story: Early in the year, have your child tell you a story or a joke and write down verbatim what they say. Do this again several times over the course of the year. If they’d like, they can illustrate the story.

These are just a few ideas to get you started. What you decide to include is up to you, and as unlimited as your child's imagination!