Treasured Year Long Scrapbook for Kindergarten

Each year, we collect work examples and art projects to create our year-long scrapbook for Kindergarten. It is something that takes time and effort BUT it is so worth it in the end. Many of you have asked to see the inside of our Kindergarten scrapbook. I got permission to show my one child. I hide her name and the class pictures, but I labeled what is behind the picture to keep the rest of my little learners’ faces protected.

Kindergarten Scrapbook Cover

First, our scrapbook cover is one of my favorites! On the first day of school, I give each student a simple (and free!) art project. It is a simple way to see who can color, cut, and glue from the start. I hang up their work and then save it away for the covers of their scrapbooks. You can grab this freebie printable here.

August Scrapbook Pages

First thing first… the first picture I have is the first-day picture of that child. This is a picture I use to label MANY things in the classroom as well as decorate the classroom door. Then, we have a student-created art project that we do during the first week of school. I also take a small group picture while doing a fun simple science experiment to work on following directions. (You can read about this here.)

Then, we also create a finger painting apple. ( You can grab this freebie printable here.) We also complete weekly graphs for number talks based on what we are learning about. Then, we take a class picture of ourselves around the data. (This became quite a thing this year and the kids loved posing around their chart.)

September Scrapbook Pages

The next month we created some leaf artwork with tissue paper as we studied fall changes. We studied community helpers and hosted a huge community helper day complete with helicopter paramedics in the picture on the left. We also took a class picture of us dressed up as community helpers on the right.

October Scrapbook Pages

Now, for the month of October, we have an enormous fun run that we all participate in. We also made these cute scarecrows. Many students have writing samples here on scarecrows, but this student didn’t have one. I wanted to mention that although most of the scrapbooks look the same, sometimes I am short a project or two and that is okay!

November Scrapbook Pages

Then, we celebrated the 50th day of school. We make a jukebox and write about what we wish we had 50 of. Then, we have a huge sock hop, dressed in 50s attire. We take a picture of the girls and add that picture to all the girls’ scrapbooks. Same for the boys.

Extra Fall Scrapbook Pages

We had a field trip to the pumpkin patch so I took a bus class picture and a field trip class picture. I had to include these memories in this treasured Kindergarten scrapbook since these are our adventures this year! We also have a Thanksgiving Feast with all of our families and a picture of each student with their parents.

December Scrapbook Pages

For December, we make stockings and candy canes. We also have a class picture of our Polar Express Day and another family picture. December seems to be a hard month to get scrapbook things done, hence why we don’t have a writing sample.

January Scrapbook Pages

Next, in January, we write about our goals for the new year. Then we have tons of pictures of us celebrating the 100th day of school. Again, I tried to get pictures of this student with other students in action. My hope is that these pictures will remind them of the FUN activities we do to make learning fun.

February Scrapbook Pages

In February, we study US Presidents and US Symbols. We have an art project and a writing activity. I also take a picture of a small group of this student making the art project.

March Scrapbook Pages

On this page, we answer the question at the end of The Cat in the Hat book. We also create a class glyph using Thing 1 and Thing 2. And we made and enjoyed rainbow cupcakes for St. Patrick’s Day. (You can see the directions for these rainbow cupcakes at the end of this post.)

April Scrapbook Pages

Now, we celebrate Easter! We created these bunnies and water-colored eggs. (You can see how we make these here.) We also wrote about April showers and turned them into umbrellas here. This idea is a classic from The Mailbox.

May Scrapbook Pages

Next, we write about insects as we learn about them. And we make ourselves a graduate. I got some cute pictures of students reading to a partner that I grabbed as well.

Finally, the last page of the scrapbook is our superlative. I used Mel D’s End of the Year awards this year. You can check them out here. At the end of the year awards, we tell stories of that students as we present each with their award AND their scrapbook of Kindergarten.

Tips and Tricks for Organization

I won’t lie, these Kindergarten scrapbooks are a labor of love. Let me share with you some tips and tricks to make your scrapbooks as efficient as possible.

1. Start with a place to store all work from the classroom. I use a crate and a hanging folder for each child. This is ready on day one.
2. Try to use the writing and art that each child has completed. It makes assembling the actual scrapbooks faster.
3. Include what you USE in the classroom. Don’t make this “something else to do” but rather a representation of what you are doing in the classroom.
4. File away as you go.
5. Think about how you will bind your book. My new school has a binding machine that only binds standard-sized paper while my old school has a binding machine that binds construction-sized paper. This can be a big deal so know what you are working with. (This is close to the binding machine at my school now.) I also buy these rings once every few years. I get the 1-inch size BUT you can get smaller ones if you need them.
6. Print photos CHEAP. I love Snapfish and I try to wait for their penny print sale! I can print 10 pictures or more for all my students for a low price. Best yet, I can place my order online and they send the photos to my house. As a working mom, this is HUGE.
7. Keep more work and art than you need. You can always return extras to families if you don’t use them. Don’t keep too much though. You don’t want to give each child a 50-page scrapbook.
8. Set aside solid working time to put these together. It is easier for me to knock them out in 5 hours connected than hours separated. If you have a strong parent helper, make one as an example and then ask them to do the rest.
9. Use good glue. Glue sticks usually don’t cut for my heavy art and pictures. I use either rubber cement glue or traditional school glue. If you use school glue, you can’t move things around! Rubber cement glue will allow you to make changes if you need to. (Amazon link to rubber cement here.)