Lapbooks are quickly becoming one of the most popular ways to educate and teach your child. They are engaging, active, and are made to be developmentally appropriate for children of all ages and learning styles. If you have heard the hype but are wondering what kind of books are out there and what ideas there are to use you’re not alone. There are several different types of lapbooks to make and choose from.
1. Pop up lapbooks- If you really get involved with making pop up books they can get quite complicated. They can however also be quite simple; kids can help you make different pop up books. For younger children you will probably have to give a lot of extra help with cutting and showing exactly where to put the pop up object. Older children will have an easier time with this type of lapbook and can really get creative about how they want to do it.
2. Accordian lapbooks- These can be a lot of fun for children of all ages. All it takes if a long piece of paper and some fun things to put on. There will be new a new picture, article, or some sort of information on each new fold. You can make the folds as big or as little as you want or need for your unit or theme. You can use pop up objects on one of the folds, stickers (for young children), or written information.
3. Shape books- Shape books are just another way to make lapbooks fun for young children. A shape book can be made from just about any shape you can think of as long as the shape is big enough to fit your information into. You can make shape lapbooks from apples, fire engines, or a princess hat. Anything your child loves you can use. All you need is one shape template and you can cut out as many pages as you want.
4. Folded books- folded books are somewhat similar to accordian books except they are folded. These little books are great for older kids because they look more like an actual book.
5. Layered books- These types of lapbooks are probably more commonly made. They are simple and require 8×11 pieces of paper layered on top of one another. The heavier the paper the better so if you have something like cardstock you will want to use that type of paper. Heavy paper makes it easier to write on both sides without it showing through. The different layers can be used for chapter headings, different themes, or adding different pictures. They are extremely easy to make and both younger and older children can use them.
6. Expandable books- These are so fun for older kids to make. The younger ones may have difficulty with these as there are many different folds to do. The thing that makes it so fun for kids is that they can put their information or pictures into so many different “hiding” or folded spots. They can really use their creativity to get a lapbook with exactly what they want.
It can be overwhelming trying to figure out which type of book is the best for your child or students with so many different types of lapbooks, but there’s no need to stick with just one. Try starting with an easy one first, and then move on to a more difficult one as the kids get more advanced and better at making their lapbooks.