Make Your Own School Memory Book

With the end of school fast approaching, I am once again reminded of how very quickly time goes by and how fast our kids grow up. Once they enter school, it seems to fly even faster.

When I was a little girl, each of us kids had a school memory book in which to record some of our favorite memories from each year. It had a place for a school picture and a pocket to keep report cards, test scores and other small memorabilia.

Later, when I had children of my own, their grandmother gave them memory books as well. The format was exactly the same, but you can see in the following photo how many more things there were to keep when I was in school.

There are several commericially-made memory books available today that follow the same format as the one my daughter and I had, like this one and this one.

However, I decided to make my own memory books for my grandkids for a couple of reasons:

• I could personalize it as I wished

• I could use an 8.5”x11” format so that letters and papers would fit easier

I created interview pages for the first of school and the end of school that ask questions about their expectations and experiences. There is also a spot for a school picture or to draw a picture of themselves. One of my favorite features is the space for their signature - it is fun to watch how it changes through the years.

Here’s what you need:

• First Day of School Interview card (free download)

• School Year labels (free download)

• End of School Interview Card (available to email subscribers)

• manila or white envelopes, one for each year (I used 9x12 size)

• looseleaf binder (I used this leather-look binder from Target)

• white cardstock (You will need 12 pages for school + preschool years and 2 pages for the labels. I used 18 pages total.)

• glue or double-stick tape

• velcro dots (found at Dollar Tree)

• hole punch (A 3-hole punch is helpful, if you have one.)

• scissors

First, print the First Day of School cards on plain cardstock.

Print the End of School Interview Cards on the back. (Be sure that you have the paper turned the right direction so that it doesn’t print out upside down on the back.)

Punch holes to fit in your binder.

Trim the envelope opening down about an inch to fit in your binder.

Trim the flap so that it will not be caught in the holes punched.

Apply the velcro dots to the envelope flap and the envelope. (Don’t worry about the sticky-back showing through the hole - your label will cover it.)

Print and cut out the the envelope labels. There are several blank ones included in case you would like to add toddler years. Glue or tape one to each envelope flap.

Punch holes in the envelopes to fit in the binder.

Place all of the pages in order, with the corresponding envelope behind each page and secure in your binder.

If you want to embellish the pages with stickers or let your child color them each year, that would be so fun. I will probably use my Silhouette to add a name to the front of each one I make, I’ll leave the embellishing to my grandkids!!