Chronicle vacation days and create a book of warm memories to share in any season.

Whether your child’s heading off to camp, taking a family vacation, or simply enjoying what your neighborhood has to offer, collecting and preserving summer mementos will give her a sense of time, perspective, and history. And assembling a scrapbook with your younger child will help you connect over shared experiences.

Focus on What Your Child Loves
Before you begin your project, ask your child to choose a theme. Scrapbooks don’t have to be decoupage and photo-filled extravaganzas, though your child may enjoy assembling one of those. Try to tailor the project to his interests — particularly if he’s more active than crafty — be it sports, travel, or bugs. If he wants to gather objects that won’t tuck into a book, consider alternate ways to preserve the collection, such as a shadow box he can hang on his wall. Here are a few theme ideas:

• All About Me
• Exploring the Great Outdoors
• My Team’s Spectacular Summer (As an Athlete or Fan)
• Backseat Adventures
• What I Learned This Summer
• A Visit to…
• My World Travels (Real or Imaginary)
• Camp Life
• All the Good (and Bad) Things I Did This Summer
• Summer Is…
• My Family, Friends, and/or Pet

Stock up on Supplies
With the enticing array of scrapbooking supplies available, you can create a museum-quality masterpiece. However, try to be realistic about the scope of the project. If you spend $2 a sheet on hand-made paper, how will you feel when your 6 year old dumps a bottle of rubber cement on it? You can assemble a scrapbook with supplies you probably have around the house, like a three-ring binder, computer and construction paper, and magic markers. But to construct something more durable, you’ll probably want to buy a few basics. Choosing acid-free paper for anything that will touch valuable photos or mementos is a good choice since it protects them from yellowing. A few simple supplies include:

• The Book
  You can purchase a memory book, choose a binder you can cover with fabric or paper, or even use a blank book that’s already assembled. (This will make manipulating the pages more challenging.) Or, you might consider choosing extremely strong cardboard your child can decorate and bind to the pages with ribbon.
• The Pages
  Choose sturdy, neutral paper and be sure to check that the holes are in the right place for your book. If not, you may need an office- or scrapbook-style hole-punch to assemble your project.
• Glue Stick
• Double-sided Tape
• Decorative-edged Scissors (Pinking shears can work.)
• Drawing Tools like markers, crayons, or colored pencils
• Colored and/or Patterned Paper (Wrapping paper can be a cost-saving option.)
• Glitter, Stickers, Rubber Stamps, etc.
• Ruler
• Photo Corners (They aren’t necessary, but can add a lot to the look.)
• Photos and Mementos (Offer your child a disposable camera to capture the kids-eye view.)

Save Everything
Just about any object can be something to treasure. Designate a box or basket in your house that your child can fill with everything she wants to preserve. Here are a few suggestions:

• Photos
• Stamps
• Brochures
• Tickets
• Postcards
• Invitations
• Letters and Cards
• Luggage Tags
• Receipts
• Travel Guides
• Maps
• Flyers
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Leaves and Pressed Flowers
• Drawings and Writing Practice
• Worksheets
• Notes
• Checklists
• Scraps of Fabric (From a memorable t-shirt, etc.)
• Journal Entries
• Quotes and Jokes
• Facts about Your Child and Home

Laying out the Pages
There are a million different ways to arrange a scrapbook. Help your child choose an order that makes sense with the theme, whether it’s chronological, by person or place, or by subject. Try to work through the project one page at a time, since that’s how he’ll experience it in the future. You can find ideas in craft books or on the Internet, but here are a few general pointers to keep in mind:

• Be selective! Don’t feel like you have to include every summer photograph.
• Consider matting photos and mementos (particularly flimsy ones) to set them off from the white page and keep the glue from seeping through.
• Write captions on construction paper before putting them in the book.
• Vary shapes and colors, and utilize pictures and patterns, on each page for visual interest.
• Don’t be afraid to employ odd angles, clip photos, and overlap objects.
• Consider adding a title to each page and finishing it off with a border.
• Preserve a little “white” space on each page so it’s not too busy.

Putting it Together
Though adults may prefer to collect everything and assemble their scrapbook later, your child may enjoy creating it throughout the season. This will also focus the project on the process, rather than the end result. If she doesn’t want to make a page permanent in case she wants to make changes, she can always lay out the pages without adhesive and then glue everything at the end of the summer.

If you’re helping your younger child with the project, try to designate a couple of hours each week when you can collaborate on your project. Involve your child in as much of the process as possible and don’t worry if the book isn’t “beautiful” — the memories it preserves will be!