When I saw this post by Jenae over at I Can Teach My Child ( who will be a guest poster tomorrow so don’t miss it! ) my head was running with ideas on how to make something similar. I would be lying if I told you it was easy, maybe it would have been with no kids but I had an infant in my arms while taking every picture and a 4 year old helper wanting to “help”. However the results were pretty cool and it’s a great book to take to church or somewhere else where talking is frowned upon. It’s been tested out by a handful of friends already and our Eye-Spy Book was quite the hit at a playdate last week. So the effort was worth it. Here is how we made it.
- Gather your materials. This is a long list so take notes! I gathered a bunch of categories of my son’s toys. You can use anything for the pictures but I went with themes because it was easy to just grab bins from his room and the family room. You will also need some back drops. I chose plain Jane construction paper, you will need some foam letters and a camera. A good camera would be better but my point and shoot was OK. Once the pictures are developed ( or printed out) you will need some self laminating pages, a hole punch, and some binder rings.
- Start by using the foam letters to write Can You Find and take a picture. This will be the cover page.
- Next do the first lay out. Lay the toys you are looking for on the page.
I laid out the whole search page first then picked a few out to lay on the can you find page.
Take a picture. - Replace the objects you used and take a picture of the full lay out.
- Repeat this is a bunch of different toys. I always used the same black paper with ” Can You Find ” in foam letters for the search page. It made the process quicker.
- I took this picture for the back cover.
- Have the pictures developed or print them out on your printer.
- Time to laminate.
Now in my dream house I have a craft room with awesome natural light and a laminator. But in reality I have my kitchen and these cool laminator envelopes that are sorta tricky but they laminate so clearly without a machine that they are worth it. I had a few bubbles but nothing too bad. Remember to laminate in order so 2 pictures front and back to each page. - Punch holes.
- Pop the rings through and you are done! I like using the rings because I have plenty of room to add more pages.
- Time to find things!
More I-Spy Crafts
Aneladgam says
But that’s AMAZING! I’m putting myself to make such a book for my son at once!
Savannah says
What a great idea! My son loves the toddler find it book he got from grandma, but it’s getting too easy for him..though it might be a while since I don’t have a colour printer, I’ll definitely have to try this, thanks!
Jenae @ I Can Teach My Child says
Thanks so much for the link, Allie! I love how the book turned out!!!
The Iowa Farmer's Wife says
This is the neatest thing I’ve seen in a while! I was just thinking yesterday how I’d like to get her an I SPY book, but now I can MAKE one! This is so neat! I’m so excited for this project. How big are your pages if you don’t mind me asking?
The Iowa Farmer's Wife says
Also, do you have a Costco nearby? They have a good laminator for only $17.99 and it comes with 100 laminating sheets! Just thought I’d share. 🙂
Elissa says
That’s great! My kids LOVE the I spy books so having one with their own toys would be so much fun!
Sharon says
Wonderful idea! You could probably do this just as cheaply by uploading the photos to a site like snapfish then using a photo book code to get the book for free or really cheap. I think I’ll try it this way and use some family group pictures, too.
Toddler Approved says
love this!! we were just discussing how we wanted to make an i-spy book for an upcoming road trip.
Joyce says
So fun!
Rachee says
Love it!
I am going to try this with my preschoolers at storytime.
Thanks!
-r
Bea says
I am so doing this for my girls, this will be great book to bring to church so they can be reverent, and you think it will be a good present for a one year old? I am so making one for him if you say yes!! thank you, you are so smart!!
Kristi @ Creative Connections for Kids says
What a great way to support language development!
Very unique 🙂
Caz says
This is an awesome idea, I love it!! Definitely making a few for the car and pram, they will be terrific for keeping my girls amused while we are travelling. Thankyou!
Krista says
I love your ideas. Thank you for sharing so many wonderful ones.
What size pictures did you develop for the booklet? Is a 4 X 6 size big enough?
Shauna says
I was also wondering what sizes your pictures were? I LOVE this idea and I think I am going to use it for Christmas (planning ahead) as a homemade gift. Thanks for sharing!!
admin says
I did 4×6 – I wanted to do 5×7 but the laminator sheets I had were 4×6 .
Jennifer says
I love this idea. Would be a great homemade gift too – I don’t know a single kid who doesn’t love these books!
Karen says
Fantastic, how fun this will be to make one for Valentine’s Day! Karen
Sippy Cup Centrl
Lenetta @ Nettacow says
Awesome idea – I’ll be linking on one of my weekly roundups soon. I also wanted to comment – I use clear contact paper a ton for “laminating”. It probably isn’t as good as the real thing, but much cheaper for sure.
Heather says
Love this idea! I have big plans now. 🙂
Rachel says
Thanks for this, I am working on one for my kids now.
beth says
I love how you made this! Would you mind sharing the photos you used, they look great. I would love to make an i spy book but know i dont have the time to gather all the toys.
Yogamama says
I used your way of making a book to make a vacation memory book. http://toddlefast.blogspot.com/2012/06/toddler-proof-vacation-photo.html Not as much work as this I-spy book but it was fun and made me feel crafty! My little one loves looking at pictures of herself.
Marsali says
How sweet! Would you possibly be willing to email me your images, so that I could print them and make this book? I’d love it, if you wouldn’t mind! marsaliandrews (at) gmail
Allison McDonald says
I will see if I still have the full res photos!