Make an Alphabet Book

Alphabet and word books are much more exciting for young kids when the pages are filled with familiar pictures.  Here are a few ideas to help you make an alphabet book or word book for your home or classroom. 

When my son was just learning to talk, I made a word book for him.  I took pictures of some of his favorite things and created a little scrapbook for him.  We really enjoyed looking at the book together.  Now that he is older, the book is a treasured keepsake.

In addition to word books, I have also made some alphabet books for kids.  You can also easily make them for your home or classroom.

Find a Photo Album

An easy way to make an alphabet book is by using an inexpensive photo album.  I find photo albums like this in the dollar store.   You can also use small notebooks, scrapbooks, or make a custom book on photo websites.

Take Your Alphabet Pictures

Next, you will need to take or collect pictures for your book.  Kids might enjoy getting involved in this activity by helping you find objects for each letter of the alphabet.  If you are in a classroom, you can take pictures of objects that kids bring in to share for letter-of-the week.  You can also assign one letter to each child in your class.

Add Text to Pictures

If you want to add letters and text directly to photos before printing them, you can use a photo editor.  I use Picasa, a free photo editing software, but I’m sure there are other photo editors out there that will do the same job.  I start by cropping my  photos to a 4 x 6 ratio for printing.  I then use the text feature to add letters and words to the photos.  When editing is complete, I send them over to my local pharmacy for 1 hour printing.

Add Pictures to Album

After the photos are printed, I added them to the little album to make an alphabet book that is truly unique.

Additional Ideas For Alphabet or Word Books:

Make a Location Word Book – Use pictures from:

• Your community (school, church, fire station, neighbors, grocery store….)
• Around your state (My Texas themed book includes the Alamo, bluebonnets, cowboy boots, longhorns, the Texas flag, rodeo, horses, BBQ….)
• Grandparent’s house
• a tour around your school or classroom
• Vacations

Make a thematic ABC or word book about:

• food
• animals
• classroom areas/supplies
• family memebers/ classmates
• kids artwork

I sure hope that you have fun when you make an alphabet book or a word book.

Check out my TPT store for more ABC activities.