Have you ever heard of a lapbook?  I can’t think of a better way to introduce children to note taking and summarizing. Cutting, gluing, and coloring are needed, but the finished product will bring smiles of satisfaction to you and your children. 🙂

A lapbook is a creative way of writing facts and ideas about a topic and using templates to display a student’s knowledge. The templates are cut out, written on, and then attached to a file folder that has been divided into thirds. The folder can be rather large depending upon how much you have decided to include, and therefore is read on your lap.

Amazingly enough, you can assign a research project to a student and you will hear moans and groans, see eyes rolling, and even certain individuals fall out of their chairs when the words “research paper” are mentioned (it has happened at my house), but if I say lapbook there isn’t that kind of reaction. I think part of it is due to the fact that there are small bits of information or mini books (also called minit) that are written instead of a blank piece of notebook paper or a blank page on the computer screen. I think that is invaluable if you have a student who hates to write or becomes overwhelmed with information.  Lapbooks are also terrific for summarizing and picking out details from passages that are read. Here are two examples of lapbooks that I found on the internet.

So, without further ado, here are some FREE resources for you to enjoy and to help you get started:

If you would like to hear and see someone talk about them  click here. The presenter specifically uses these for the Apologia Science series. If you are interested in seeing a step-by-step video of how lapbooks are created, here is a  lapbook tutorial with ideas.

www.homeschoolshare.com  I love this website because they have a tremendous amount and variety of topics. They have lapbooks according to ages  (toddler through middle school) and also some according to interest. Here is one that uses Mr. Popper’s Penguins as its focus: http://www.homeschoolshare.com/poppers_penguins.php

Here are lapbooks for younger students called Preschool Packs. There are so many to choose from that you could spend all year working on them.

Heart of Wisdom has a lapbook on the Passover and Exodus.

Are you interested in making your own lap books? Making Books With Children has free book projects that can either stand alone or be added to your lapbooks.