“All about me book”
Making an “All about me book” is lovely little project to boost children’s understanding of language, vocabulary, memory, sequencing, story telling and so much more....
Find out why I recommend this simple little project and how you can make your very own! Keep reading to watch the cute video of me and my youngest with her special little book!
3 reasons to love an “All about me book”
1. Everyone loves them
All ages love them! From babies to toddlers, preschoolers and even older children. Parents love making them and practitioners, teachers and relatives love sharing them!
Who doesn’t love to look at pictures and enjoy that shared experience?
2. They are super child friendly
The clue is in the title “All about me”…from around 12 - 18 months children start to love looking at pictures of themselves!!
It’s basically a toy all about them which means it’s meaningful, super engaging and a perfect language learning opportunity.
3. They support language development
If your child is not yet talking an “All about me” photo book is perfect, especially if they are starting in a new setting or seeing a relative for the first time in a while. A photo book can help children to share information, participate and feel really included in conversations.
They are also brilliant for working on vocabulary development, children often want to look at them and share them again and again and again – a perfect recipe for language learning!
For older children “All about me books” can help with grammatical structures, sequencing skills, story re-telling as well as descriptive language, vocabulary and answering questions.
What to include in your picture book…
There are so many language targets that you could use an “All about me book” for - from “breaking the ice” in a new setting to vocabulary building, introducing new action words, working on two words together, using carrier phrases, using pronouns, past tense….. the possibilities are endless!
Want to learn more about any of these topics….check out my monthly membership, Team LOCSALT here.
To get you started, here are a few ideas of the sorts of photos you could include…
1. Photos of people - You can include photos of all of the important people in your child’s life, like their family, friends, caregivers and pets!
2. Photos all about me - Include photos that are all about your child’s life; where they live, what they like, they’re favorite toys, things and places that are important to them.
3. Photos of action words - Learning verbs is important as it helps toddlers to move from those single little words to two words together. You could add photos of your child doing actions like: walking, sliding, eating playing, jumping, climbing, painting…think about what they love to do and include a picture of them doing it in the book!
4. Photos of day trips and special events - Help children to share their experiences with you and others. Revisiting new vocabulary such as words learnt on a day trip out some where is important for vocabulary storage and retrieval.
How to make an “All about me book”
It really is super simple...I’ve made one recently (see the video below) as my youngest daughter Margo is about to start in a new setting. There are lots ways to make one. I’ve tried to suggest the simplest, easiest and probably quickest one below because I know how busy everyone is!
Choose a little photo album - you might have a spare one hiding somewhere!
Make a list of what you’d like to include in your book
Choose some photos and have them printed
Add your photos to the photo book.
Talk with your child about the photos and the people, places and things they see in the photos
Encourage your child to share their book with others!
Or...if you’re like me and don’t have a photo book to hand and you’d like to take this DIY project to the next level...try making your own! You need some paper, scissors, glue and a printer and you can make your little one their very own “special little book”! Watch the video below to see ours and how we use it!!
So there you have it…
A fab little project for you, and a brilliant, engaging language toy that your little ones will love!!
Now go make!
Jane x
PS Did you know I’ve now a monthly Membership that you can join so that you can access all of my training sessions and so much more?! Find out more about Team LOCSALT here.