Include names, pictures, and information that places your little one in a line of family history. Supplement school lessons with a book about animals. Farm animals can follow units on food, pets could underline a lesson on community, and wild animals can illustrate facts about different countries. Cut pictures out of magazines or catalogs for illustrations. Pasting in souvenirs from travels can make a keepsake vacation journal .
Older children can use their own book as a diary during the trip.
Budding naturalists might like to chronicle a season in a wild area near your home. Even back yards can yield plenty of nature sketching opportunities. With a bit of encouragement, even seemingly uninterested children will tell a story . If they talk faster than they write, tape their story for transcription or take dictation. They provide the illustrations.