When I first heard about lapbooking, I thought it was a great concept. It’s essentially a way parents can inject fun into a boring curriculum and get children to be a little more hands-on. Lapbooking can stimulate children to think differently. It’s also a great way of gently testing their knowledge of the material you’ve just covered. 

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Let’s learn more about it below.

Lapbooking is a homeschooling method that involves getting children to make mini-books of the concepts they learn in their lessons. The mini-books are collated in a larger folder of other mini-books on the same topic.

An example of Lapbooking would be if children were to make a mini-book of the:

Then they would collate all these smaller books into a larger book or folder named ‘Studies about Egypt’. And this would be your lapbook! (Here are some Pinterest examples of Egyptian lapbooks you might find helpful.)

The purpose of lapbooking is to (1) gently test children’s knowledge of the subject, (2) to reinforce concepts taught in books or textbooks, and (3) to get children using their hands as they learn. As such, these mini-books make lessons more enjoyable and change the pace a little more, so children can learn differently.

You can lapbook by following these steps:

You can also paste in relevant pictures with captions beneath them. Or you can make a little pocket and get children to cut out notes or pictures and put these into these pockets.

Many homeschool curricula use this method to help children reinforce concepts they learn in their lessons. Indeed, I first learned about lapbooking when I studied the eclectic curriculum called Tapestry of Grace. Along with Charlotte Mason, Classical and Unit Study methods, they used this method to help children learn new things and consolidate old lessons. Lapbooking can also be a great method to learn a subject that no one is teaching. For example, if your child was interested in Boeing airplanes, you could get them to make a lapbook of:

Lapbooks can be a really great way to collate information on interesting topics where there is no written subject available.

If you want to get into hands-on learning, cement concepts in a fun way, and document some of the progress your children make, get them into lapbooking. It’s a whole lot of fun cutting and pasting, as well as a great way to have an enjoyable time together!