by Lorinda K.F. Newton

Would your children be excited to show their grandma a ring binder full of worksheets? Or open their computer to show Uncle Joe their digital papers?

No, of course not.

But they would be excited to share an interactive book they made that illustrated a topic they learned.

Add pizzazz to your homeschool lessons by incorporating lapbooks.

What Are Lapbooks?

Lapbooks resemble interactive storybooks with flaps to lift and booklets to read. Built on file folders, they display pictures and mini books that children write to demonstrate what they have learned about a topic.

For instance, a typical mini book is a piece of paper folded in half with a picture or title on the front. Inside the booklet, a student records some information and perhaps includes another illustration. Sometimes these books can be cut into circles, triangles, or even in a novel shape of a story bag for a report on Native Americans.

Other forms of mini books include multi-page, accordion, peek-a-boo, trifold, pocket, layered, and even pop-up books.

You can make a lapbook for any subject: English, math, history, social studies, science, Bible, or even on virtuous character traits.

Why Use Lapbooks?

Hands-on activities such as lapbooks enhance learning and reinforce concepts. They

• Help children “own” the information as they write it in their own words and find or make their own illustrations.
• Break writing assignments into smaller chunks and encourage summarizing skills.
• Give a purpose for writing and a way to preserve a child’s writing.
• Teach students how to organize information for a visual presentation.
• Encourage creativity and the desire for beauty.
• Provide children a way to display their knowledge of a subject.
• Work as review material before a test.
• Function as a prop for an impromptu oral report to Grandpa!
• Become a homeschool keepsake, whereas a notebook full of papers will eventually be tossed.

Kits for Lapbooks

You can design a lapbook on your own to fit your lessons and your child’s creativity. However, a busy mom can find many kits, patterns, and ideas in books and online. Some lapbooks are even designed to coordinate with some curricula, such as Apologia science.

Homeschool in the Woods Unit Studies

We used the Time Travelers U.S. History Studies to augment our elementary American history lessons. The Civil War unit study became our primary material when my son and I learned about the Civil War.

This Lego-building and cardboard contraption-making son enjoyed assembling these lapbooks because they came with clear instructions for placement in a file folder. As a student who struggled with writing disabilities, my son appreciated only having to write a few sentences in a little booklet.

My artistic daughter, on the other hand, disliked this ready-made art. She preferred to make pen-&-ink sketches or acrylic paintings to illustrate a subject or concept we studied.

These unit studies by Amy Pak, a graphic designer/illustrator and homeschool mom, contain more than lapbooks. They can function as a complete curriculum for younger children and as a spine for older children (The curriculum is designed for students in grades 3-8). I simply love Amy’s blackline artwork. Many of the pictures imitate original works of art.

Homeschool in the Woods sells a world history set, timeline figures, and other hands-on history activity kits as downloadable files. All the materials need to be printed on your own printer.

Knowledge Box

Browsing through the Rainbow Resource website, I found another source of lapbook kits, Knowledge Box. They make lapbook supplements for Apologia science and cover all the typical school subjects, including a state study for each of the 50 states.

All kits come with instructions on how to make the individual booklets. Knowledge Box only sells e-books on its website. They sell the paper and CD versions of their materials through Christianbook, Rainbow Resource, and Amazon. The kits contain booklets only, not lapbook layouts. These mini books can be mounted in a lapbook, or older children can include them in a notebook.

Tip-Top Printables Shop

Online, you can find many other sites that contain ideas for lapbooks. I found Tip-Top Printables Shop, which has many simple, inexpensive lapbook kits on various topics. Download the PDFs to print at home.

Here’s a kindergarten project my daughter did with a design from a company that is  o longer in business.

Designing Your Own Lapbook

First, select a topic for your lapbook. It could be a book review, an issue from science or history, or even a flap book to drill the multiplication tables or vocabulary for a foreign language.

Second, decide how many mini books and illustrations you want to include. This number will determine whether you only need one file folder or more. If you have several mini-books, add an additional folder or tagboard flaps to extend your surface area to display them.

Third, collect your paper craft supplies. At a minimum, you need colored file folders, cardstock, and other types of paper; pens, pencils, and markers; scissors; and adhesives such glue sticks, double-sided tape, or even Velcro dots. Packing tape works great to connect file folders or additional tagboard panels together.

You may also want a stapler, brads, a hole punch, twine, yarn, or ribbon to fasten some books together. To decorate your lapbook, add glitter, stickers, or washi tape. I even found colored library card pockets for pocket books. Check your local craft store, especially the scrapbooking area, for more ideas.

Fourth, make your mini books as part of your lessons on the subject.

Fifth, assemble the lapbook and enjoy sharing it with others.

Here’s a lapbook I created for my son to practice his knowledge of chemistry and the scientific method.

See the following resources to gather ideas for mini books and lapbook layouts.

Idea Books

• The Ultimate Lap Book Handbook Tammy Duby and Cyndy Regeling
• Big Book of Books and Activities by Dinah Zike, M.Ed.
• Big Book of Social Studies for Elementary (K-6) by Dinah Zike, M.Ed.
• 75 Creative Ways to Publish Students’ Writing (grades 2-6) by Cherilyn Sunflower (out of print, but used copies are available)

I have all four of these books in my personal library. If you attend Academy Northwest or live in north King County, south Snohomish County, or on Whidbey Island, you may borrow these books from me.

Idea Websites

I discovered several websites that feature lapbooks while searching online, and these seemed particularly helpful.

• Homeschool Helper Online has over 60 lapbook designs covering all school subjects.
• Lapbook Hub at Homeschool Share offers lapbooks on multiple topics as well, even a set for American Girl and Little House on the Prairie.
• Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus, including “How to Turn Boring Worksheets into Fun Minibooks – From Boring to Interactive”

Next time you want your children to create a response to their lessons, instead of taking a quiz or writing a report, have them build a lapbook, a homeschool keepsake.

Lorinda K. F. Newton began homeschooling her children in 2004, and her family joined Academy Northwest in 2014. Her family lives on beautiful Whidbey Island north of Seattle, Washington. She writes about faith, culture, and governing from a biblical worldview at Lorinda’s Ponderings and Substack, where she also posts reviews on her home library. ©2022 by Lorinda K. F. Newton.