Child-Made Scrapbook: 2 Ways

Kids today are so lucky that travel is much cheaper for their parents.  I didn't travel to another country until I was in high school, nor did I visit Boracay until I was a yuppie!  Nowadays Boracay is a teenage rite of passage, and Cebu Pacific has actually told my husband we are one of their frequent flyers.  

I do worry that children won't even remember the places they go to.  Worse, I'm not much of a photographer when we're on vacation.  Here's a fun way to get preschoolers more appreciative of their travels and a great introduction to journaling:

There's a little spot in her room which I reserve as a memory board of sorts:

Later on I'd like to use this as a geography corner as well - just haven't gotten around to it!

Before you think I'm great at crafts, let me tell you that this is just washi tape:

cover a cork board in wash tape frame: completely doable in fifteen minutes

I let her cut up the brochures I saved on the trip.  It's tempting to take over the choice of memories, but I let her have complete freedom in choosing which ones were dear to her:

We used our stash of hole fasteners here to pin them to the cork.  

She's not too sturdy with her fine motor yet, otherwise pushpins are still the easiest.   

Bring a single-hole puncher in case the fasteners won't pop through thicker paper, like tickets.

Her memories of Thailand: 

clockwise: Siam Ocean World, Kidzania, Siam Niramit show, the Snake Farm

Keep it free-flowing and follow your child's lead completely.  

Afterwards she wanted to do more with the brochures so she decorated the kiddie hat from Siam Ocean World with a glue stick.  She wore this and pretended to be a tour guide of the Snake Farm:

After doing one together as our weekend play bonding, I tried to adapt it as a (what else) leave-behind play activity!  

I have a whole gallery, a talk, and social media accounts dedicated for easy leave-behind play ideas for working moms to keep play going even while we're at the office.  These are basically just invitations to play that are very easy for your little one to understand.

Since we've done one together, this needed no further prompts more than this simple setup:

Find contact paper at the wallpaper and blinds section of Ace, True Value or Handyman

I usually set out the play invitations at night for her to discover and do at her own pace.  But when she saw this one, she couldn't wait to do it.  That's why I have these pictures:

She finished cutting the brochures by herself, stuck the tickets, and started decorating the empty spaces with sequins.  

If you don't have contact paper around, you can use stickers to use as "tape" instead - just make sure your child gets what to do.
But contact paper makes it really easy for even 2-3 year olds to make collages though!

Her memories of her Singapore birthday trip:

Clockwise: Flower Dome, River Safari, Sampan Ride, The Mummy Secrets of the Tomb Exhibit, Cable Car Ride

After I let this work stay up for a few weeks, I snap a picture and throw them away so I don't keep paper clutter.  They'll find their way to the travel photo book soon.  Which really means 'eventually'.

As is most play at the toddler and preschool age, it's about the process rather than the finished result.  Doing this together, or talking about what she chose at the end of the day sparked a nice little conversation, gave me more insights into her, and relived memories of being happy.

Notice it's "memories of being happy" not "happy memories"?  After all, memories fade but the feelings of a happy childhood you always remember.