Simply Made: Personalized ABC Book

I'm a firm believer in making things relevant to our tots' surroundings. When I taught kindergarten in an inner-city school, half of my class did not speak english. Talk about a challenge! I had to work really hard at making learning relevant to my students. For me, that meant using real objects and pictures as often as possible--things they would come in contact with during their day and actually recognize.

I think it should be the same with our tots. Some of the objects in alphabet books are strange choices. (A is for abacus...huh? What tot knows what an abacus is?) While they are valuable for building vocabulary, sometimes they just don't make sense to our little ones. So, let's make a Personalized ABC Book that is relevant for our tots!

Materials Needed:

• Small Photo Book/Brag Book with enough spaces for 26 photos (I found mine at the Dollar Tree)
• Pictures of People/Objects/Places for each letter of the alphabet that are RELEVANT to your child
• If you're feeling extra crafty, scrapbooking supplies

Directions:  

If you're feeling extra crafty and have scrapbooking supplies, you will need to make labels for each of your letters and a cover for your ABC Book.

Below is my "N is for nap" page.

If you would rather use a photo-editing program you can add text to your pictures before printing them out. Picnik is free and easy to use. Plus if you have more than one example for a letter, you can create a collage.

Below are some examples I made using Picnik:

Once you've gathered and printed all of your pictures, place them in your photo book in alphabetical order. If you have extra spaces, consider adding a page of shapes, colors, numbers,etc. (You can also make this in Picnik with the simple shape stickers.)

~If you have a hard time coming up with something for a letter, think about cartoon characters or labels. For example, U is for Uniqua (from Backyardigans) or U is for Uncles.
~Another option for hard letters could be using some environmental print (food labels, signs, etc.) your tot might recognize.

Once it's done, give it to your tot and enjoy the ABC fun! It's bound to become a favorite!