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Sam and Holly go scrapbooking
babyworld's community editor Sam Pope started scrapbooking with
her daughter Holly last year, during a family holiday. Here they explain
why they like doing it and how they go about it.
Why we started scrapbooking
In June 2006, Holly, Carl and I went on holiday with my parents to France.
It was our first three-generational trip away together and Holly was at
the age when she was able to appreciate photographs and get excited about
collecting mementos.
.I must admit my love of scrapbooking when I was a child inspired me
to encourage Holly in this area; when I was little and living in Canada,
we would have extended holidays in the UK to visit family.
My school didn't mind my absences and encouraged me to create scrapbooks
as a fun way of learning while on holiday. Plus it was something fun to
share with my classmates when I returned: I could tell them all about
the UK. When I asked Holly if she wanted to create her own holiday book
about her experiences in France, she was excited at the prospect and delighted
to have her own album to look at and show people whenever she wanted.
Choosing a book
To be honest, I knew nothing of the scrapbooking craze when I decided
to start scrapbooking with Holly last year. I simply went into a newsagents
and looked at the scrapbooks available. Some seemed horrendously expensive
for what amounted to blank pieces of paper in a pretty nondescript book.
I tried the cheap booksellers The Works and found a really wide selection
of notebooks.
I took Holly in the next day and she chose one with a purple cover and
purple sheets, with flowers on the front. Sorted!
What we did
We took the book and some Pritt stick when we went away on holiday. The
plan in my head was to get Holly to fill in the pages every day or so
with something new she found. It didn't quite work that way, plus she
was keen to keep things like pine cones which obviously don't fit onto
the pages!
In the end, we decided to take photos, keep entrance tickets to attractions,
flight boarding passes and anything 'flat' that would stick easily into
the book, and compile it when we returned to the UK. Holly was delighted
to add a summer poppy to the collection after we had pressed it! This
worked well. Looking at the photos when we returned reminded us of a nice
holiday and extended that relaxed feeling for longer!
For each photo, I asked Holly to describe what was happening in it and
wrote a caption, in her own words, underneath. She then, proudly, took
it in to her friends in her nursery for show and tell.
Was it a success?
Definitely! Holly loves being able to look at the photos whenever she
pleases and, since the book is quite large, we have been able to add details
of subsequent holidays into it. As a parent, I have noticed how much Holly
enjoys having these photos, words, drawings and mementos to remind herself
and to tell others about her trips away.
We'll definitely keep this up and perhaps create more on other topics.
I am not sure if I would follow the scrapbooking craze, as in making my
own albums, but with a cheap book from the high street, you can achieve
a lot!
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