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DIY Books for Babies and Toddlers

January 28, 2016 by Jaimi Erickson 11 Comments

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DIY books for babies and toddlers that use an item you may already have in your kitchen! Clever books to encourage a love of reading in babies and toddlers with personalized books that are easy to make.

Creating DIY books for babies is a simple way to introduce babies and toddlers to reading and books while creating an infant activity they can play with for months and years.

I made DIY books for my oldest daughter (baby #2) when she was less than a year old and we still have the book I made for her 4 years later! They are pretty sturdy , but you should always supervise. Reading to our children is a simple way to instill the love of learning in our kids.

From birth, babies can listen to books. At first, short books are great so your baby can hear language and you both get bonding time cuddling together. As your infant grows and can hold books and focus on bold images, you can start reading simple board books with one picture and word per page. These are so great for younger toddlers too!

I have always read regular children’s books to my kids even when they were infants. All 4 have really good attention spans when it comes to books now, but often older infants, toddlers and even younger preschool kids will have shorter attention spans. You can read about this in my posts Crash Course in Child Development all about Toddlers or Preschoolers.

These DIY books for babies are really easy, you can make a variety of colors and subject matter, and once you get the process down, I bet you will find a lot of ways to incorporate personalized book ideas with your child’s name and family pictures too.

DIY Books for Babies and Toddlers

Supplies:

Construction paper

Black marker

Clear packing tape

Zip top bags (I use Ziploc® from Target or WalMart)

 

WalMart coupons @ ShopAtHome.com

 

Make the books:

First step is to decide what you would like on each page of your book. I made a shape book, a book with the letters of my child’s name, and a book with numbers. The shape book pages look like this, but I will share the steps to put a complete book together below.

DIY books for babies and toddlers.

In this post, I will go through the steps to make a book that teaches a child how to spell their name. It coordinates with my name spelling song that is fun to sing to infants, toddlers or preschoolers! (I love it for getting my wiggly infants and toddlers to lay still during a diaper change!)

 

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How To Make a DIY Book for Babies with Their Name

Step 1) Cut a piece of construction paper into 4 parts. You can fold it lengthwise then width-wise, unfold it and use the fold lines to guide your cutting.

Steps to prepare a DIY book for babies and toddlers using ziploc bags and construction paper.

Step 2) Choose the page order, and create a cover.

DIY books for babies and toddlers.

I wrote “How to Spell Henry” as the title for the book I made for my twin son. You can use that as a guide and write your child’s name or create your own title. Then flip the cover page over and write the first letter of your child’s name on the back.

Step 3) Write the rest of the letters (one per page) flipping the pieces of paper to write one letter on the front and one letter on the back until you have all the letters written on the paper. You may need to cut an additional piece of paper to add more pages.

Step 4) On the last page, write “That’s how you spell [write child’s name]” if you like. (This is a line from the Name Spelling song.)

DIY books for babies and toddlers made from ziploc bags.

Step 5) Lay out the Ziploc® bags with the zipper side to the left.

DIY books for babies and toddlers made from ziploc bags. Easy to make a numbers books, name book or shape book for toddlers.

Step 6) Open a zipper bag and insert the cover page for your DIY book then close the zipper.

Step 7) Continue filling the bags until each page is in a bag and facing the correct way.

Step 8) Lay all of the bags in order with the zipper on the left.

Step 10) Tear off (1) 4-inch long piece of packing tape and set it aside.

DIY books for babies and toddlers using ziploc bags-so easy to personalize with shapes, numbers or letters of the child's name. What a great idea for infants and toddlers.

Step 11) Fold over the zippers (all together) twice (as the photo above shows) and then tape down the zipper flap. (This creates the bind of your book.) The pictures show the bind folded towards the back. After trying two ways, it looks nicer to fold the zippers to the front and tape them down. Find out what you prefer!

 

Time to show baby and read together.

 

My oldest daughter really liked looking through the pages of her DIY shape book and numbers book. This photo is her when she was only 7 months old-she is now almost 5! It’s fun to re-create these activities for my younger ones now.

Make your own DIY books for babies and toddlers using ziploc bags! You can personalize them so many ways.

The twins have name-spelling books and still have their big sister’s books I made years ago.

DIY books for babies and toddlers that teach name spelling, shapes, and numbers.

Caution: This is plastic and pieces of tape that could come apart. That is obviously a choking hazard. I have not had an issue with these books causing problems for my children, although I did have the bind of one book pop open, but that was because I had not taped it as well as I share in the steps above. I gave these books to my children when they were sitting up-or able to-on their own and have always been present to be sure they are safe and not biting the bags. Always supervise babies and toddlers. 🙂

I have to tell you, I was at a friends’ house shortly after I originally shared this activity (in much less detail) on the toddler activities page. She made the book for her then-toddler. It is awesome to see an activity I shared in the homes of friends! So fun!!

If you do not like the taping involved in this little DIY book for babies, Jenae at I Can Teach My Child has a sewn version of the Ziploc bag books. She actually sews Ziploc bags together to make a book. Her version is very pretty! What a great idea to jazz it up like Jenae does.

You can even make these books with family photos and the names of family members similar to how I made these DIY photo blocks for babies, or visit the zoo and use pictures of the animals to learn the animal names. There are so many possibilities.

 

What will you put in your DIY book for babies and toddlers?

DIY books for babies and toddlers that use an item you may already have in your kitchen! Clever books to encourage a love of reading in babies and toddlers with personalized books that are easy to make.

 

For more learning activities that take very few “crafty skills” to create for your child, visit the toddler activities page for tons of ways to maximize your time at home with your child!

 


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Enjoy your time at home!

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Filed Under: activities Tagged With: baby, books, crafty, infants, pre-reading, reading, toddlers

Comments

  1. Aimee says

    March 27, 2018 at 9:59 am

    Every time I tape mine together my toddler finds a way to undo it! Any suggestions?!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      March 28, 2018 at 7:48 am

      I first staple them together then tape over the staples (so no-one gets hurt)… helps keep everything together much better. Hope this helps.

      Thanks Jaimi for this idea! My babies love them.

      Cassie
      all the way from South Africa 🙂

      Reply
      • Jaimi Erickson says

        April 3, 2018 at 10:45 pm

        Smart tip, Cassie. Thanks for sharing!

        Reply
  2. Laura says

    October 7, 2017 at 4:52 pm

    Thanks for sharing.. i was looking for a way to make a simple photo album DIY for my baby and saw this post… i will definitely try it

    Reply
    • Jaimi Erickson says

      October 10, 2017 at 4:22 pm

      I’m so glad the idea will be helpful! Have fun. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Jadie says

    June 6, 2017 at 7:30 pm

    Thanks for sharing. I love this idea. So simple to do!! 🙂

    Reply
    • Jaimi says

      June 8, 2017 at 1:36 pm

      I am so glad you think so! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Ali Gilbert says

    February 15, 2016 at 7:43 pm

    How adorable. What a clever idea. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Jaimi says

      February 23, 2016 at 12:18 pm

      I appreciate that, Ali! Thanks for stopping by.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. DIY Contrast Cards for Babies | The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide says:
    February 20, 2019 at 5:24 pm

    […] Talk to your child about what they are looking at to increase the learning. You can even place these index cards in zip top bags and make the book I shared in this DIY books for infants post. […]

    Reply
  2. Ultimate Guide: Tips for Moving with Kids - The Stay-at-Home-Mom Survival Guide says:
    May 9, 2016 at 2:38 pm

    […] you are traveling with infants, bring along a large blanket and a few simple toys and books for babies. This helped to keep the twins content for longer periods of time in the car when we drove […]

    Reply

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Will you be spending time with family for Easter? Will you be spending time with family for Easter? 

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Both of my big kids have birthdays and we will all get to spend time at the beach this month. Our school work will morph into field trips so we soak up every day we can being present with family. 

I am looking forward to making memories, soaking in time together and celebrating two milestone birthdays - one happening tomorrow. 💛 

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🌟The faces we make when a Costco run with all t 🌟The faces we make when a Costco run with all the kids actually goes well!!! 🌟 

Ice cream after helped of course. 😂

All prepped for my in-laws coming to visit us after not seeing them since our move last summer. Looking forward to some fun events ahead that will make my kids think they are on spring break but they will technically be field trip days. Check, check. 

Are you guys on spring break this week? What do you have planned?

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Some days you put on the 10 year old comfy jeans, Some days you put on the 10 year old comfy jeans, fill your mind with encouragement and just keep moving forward. 

Recovery days are not just for working out. They are for the mental state we walk around with too. Yesterday felt heavy. My God is a power lifter and takes the burden away. 

Today will be better.

Today we will rest and refocus.

Hooray for comfy jeans, motivational graphics and the Word to focus on through it all. 

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That little boy is soon to turn 13, guys! I mean in a few weeks. 😅

This is a throwback but brings back so many fun memories. 

—————————————

I love creating activities and crafts on the fly. Always have even before my kids were here.

I noticed that my son did not have a lot of little toy people to play with while he was pretending one day. We have a few cylinder blocks in a set. We never used them when we built. I thought we could turn them into little DIY toy people. 

They were so cute and easy to make. It was a preschool art project for him. We made them together.

If you don’t have wooden cylindrical blocks at home, you can use pieces of wood dowel or even a few square blocks glued together. You can even make DIY toy people out of toilet paper tubes. 

🌟Full details through Blog link in bio 🌟

——————————————

I am so excited and yet in complete shock by how fast these little lives grow. I have never missed moments and I am so so grateful especially as we approach the teen years in my house. 💛 Soak up even the hard days of being a mom. TOTALLY worth it. 

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She loves to read. She loves to write. Abby writes plays, journal entries, songs and on a bad day she will write her feelings about it all, in depth, no holds barred. 

This night she was trying to finish up a play - setting, character details, order of lines - for a play she made for her younger sister. 

I am so thankful that we can count her love of writing in her free time as school work. I am so thankful that how we do school allows this passion and talent to thrive. She has stacks of drawings, plays and writing blurbs. They are all precious to her.

There are days I question whether this choice or that choice is right or “approved,” but it does not matter when I see my children dive deep into the things they love. 

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If you can choose any action in life, choose to help others. Side bonus when it involves fun family time together.

Best day yet. 💛💛💛

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💛 Friday Introductions💛 It has been a while 💛 Friday Introductions💛

It has been a while since I did a good run-down here to give ya the cliffs notes (are those still a thing) version of me. 👋 

💛 Detroit-born a few blocks from where Eminem lived. The city is still my hometown despite moving away as a kid.

💛 I am a big believer in traditional values, but with a modern woman twist. My husband drives his career and I drive this household.

💛 We live in eastern NC 30 mins from the beach. I want to stay here forever, truly, but military life will come to an end some day...still don’t know specifically when that will be.

💛Born and raised to be a planner, Type A personality, having 4 kids beat that out of me 🤣 and I am very “day at a time” now. 

💛I was a teacher turned stay at home mom turned blogger turned entrepreneur that had to set it all on the back burner a bit to focus on homeschooling my kids. I can only have so much on my plate and complete it successfully. (When we listen, God guides and is loud and clear with His direction. 💛)

💛I believe I can be humble and confident; I can be fully present with my kids and make space to rest and rejuvenate; I believe the biggest successes I will achieve in life will not have a paycheck as its valuation. 

💛I believe that true peace, value and love all come from Jesus. 

You will find me sharing the ups AND the downs of motherhood, wife life, homeschooling and being a Christian woman with the modern day pull to fight what that can mean. (There is def a force trying to convince us to push those values aside, my friends.)

👌What is the cliffs notes version of you? What do you want people to know/realize most of all?

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🌟Teaching Kids to Make Friends🌟 Often our c 🌟Teaching Kids to Make Friends🌟

Often our children learn hard lessons when they have to move to a new state or school. 

My kids have become all too familiar with this through military life. Every three years they have to make new friends.

It is not always simple.

As a child, my family moved a lot. We were not military, but in junior high I moved to a new state and had to make all new friends.

This was a challenging and even to some extent a traumatic time of life.

Being the new kid, is a humbling experience. Suddenly you are hoping that your peers will want to get to know you and like you. It creates some self-consciousness.

Reading is such a beneficial way to teach children about life lessons. It teaches much more than that. It teaches self esteem through the cuddle time. It teaches language skills, and it teaches children to use their minds to be creative.

As they have grown and navigated more friendships, books are a resource for us to discuss tough challenges. I have found a great series of books that present friendship challenges and help children learn to navigate them.

It just so happens that the author is my neighbor too! How cool is that?! Moms are amazing.

These books will be treasured by your family for their quality values. The @stingrayjelly series teach children how to make friends and navigate friendships to love others well and support them through shared similarities and recognized differences.

Author, Lauren Giannella is a military wife and my neighbor! Anna Perdue is the illustrator and also a military child. 

Read my blog post for details on each book and links to purchase through @barnesandnoble 

We love our military community and all they do to give back.

What are your favorite children’s books that teach children how to make friends or help them maneuver through tough life challenges?

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