Have you made it to your local library, or book store to
sign up for a summer reading challenge yet? We are having fun book discussions
and logging our reading minutes each day. Reading is a big part of our evening
routine in the summer to wind down from all the chaos of our busy summer days.
We cozy up together with a good book or two and settle into the
slow pace of our evening. It is a fun ritual my kids and I look forward to even
when we aren’t working toward prizes.
My kids are old enough to enjoy chapter books so we often
read only a few chapters each night and save the next few chapters for the
next night. This means we need some cool bookmarks to hold our place. Yes, the library has free
bookmarks on the counter for anyone to take, but we found a way to make ours truly personal and uplifting by adding affirmations to read each night.
Materials:
- Card stock or decorative scrap book paper
- Plain card stock or heavy paper (without print)
Begin by measuring a 3 inch wide by 7 inch long rectangle from your card
stock or decorative paper. We used scrapbook paper to provide a pretty background to our list. I
love the “You are Rad” gold print back ground my girl chose for her book mark. This is the base of your bookmark.
Next, measure and cut a 2 inch wide by 6 inch long rectangle from the plain (no
print) card stock. Use the colored pencils to add numbered lines to create a list. Be sure to leave enough room for your kids to write.
Here comes the fun part, your kids are going to
practice handwriting and spelling without thinking of it as a chore. Ask them to think of 5 things that they love about themselves and add them to the list using I am statements like, “I am smart” “I am happy” “I am creative,” etc. We left enough
space at the bottom to draw a favorite emoji (my kids are
still obsessed with emoji’s). Help your kids write their answers on each line and provide
proper spelling if needed.
Glue this wonderful list to the 3x7 rectangle. Punch a hole
in the top and pull a ribbon through. I used about 8.5 inches ribbon folded in
half and pulled it through to make a knot. But you can use yarn or string if that is easier.
Allow the glue to dry and you your bookmarks are ready to work!
After we finish reading our last page we take a moment to read our affirmations. I love reminding my kids
of their positive qualities. The world is a stressful place and people are so
quick to tell you what you have done wrong, it’s easy for our young kids to
internalize all that negativity. Since we read at night before bed sharing these affirmations allows us to end the night on a positive
note and I can send my kids off to bed with a happy ending.
This is a super easy project to make on a rainy day, or just when you need a little quiet in your evening.
The Whatever Mom is a full-time wife and twin mama living on coffee and wine. She enjoys the pure rush of cleaning the BIG potty between loads of laundry. It is her dream that moms everywhere accept and embrace the Whatever Mom philosophy which can be found here. You can also find her musings and popular shares on Facebook and Twitter. Stay up to date with her creative ideas and outings on Pinterest.
Other articles by The Whatever Mom