So often, the person in a family in charge of compiling family photos and memories is mom. She snaps the pictures, develops or prints them, organizes them, and turns them into scrapbooks for the whole family. The house is cluttered with stickers and paper and it may, be a major investment of time and money, and turn an otherwise organized home to a craft haven. In the end everyone is happy because they have something to look back on and remember the past. Happy memories are posted between the pages of scrapbooks and they are fun to share with grandkids, friends, and spouses in the future. Best of all, the tiny things left behind as families grow up are all frozen in time on the photos. The painting on the wall of grandma and grandpa’s house, the Bauhaus furniture or Modloft furniture you could barely remember the details of, or the crazy carpet color in the basement will all be frozen in time in a book you can lift off the shelf and page through whenever you desire. Best of all, these books can be as simple or as elaborate as you choose.

If you creating a scrapbook with your child; start by sitting down with them and listing what they would like included in the book. You may be surprised at the crazy memories and details kids love. Making a list of things that stand out for them may give you a jumping off point for arranging the book. Any items mentioned with no pictures yet can be caught on film so they can be inserted in the book. You know all of those funny details from your childhood you remember that you share with loved ones now? Your kids will have photos to capture these memories so their kids’ will believe just how crazy things were “back in the day.”

Once the memories are jotted down and the photos have been taken, you can create the book. You can arrange things in order of time, events, by theme, any one of several options. Every member of the family could have a page, or you could create a book based on important parts of the child’s life. Include journaling sections where the child describes why the memory is special, how they feel about the relative, or the things that happened at the shindig. All of these things are precious memories to capture. If the child is too young, take notes on what they say and write it up. If old enough, let them handle the journaling. Those who are more technologically savvy may enjoy creating their scrapbook with computer software. Creativity is endless on the computer and you can save it all on a CD or flash drive. Kids will adore a video scrapbook!

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