How To Use Lapbooking to Keep Interest in Learning – Tips for Homeschooling Parents

As a homeschooling parent, keeping your little one focused and engaged can be a big challenge — especially when the topic isn’t their favorite. But that’s where lapbooks come in.

Lapbooks are a fantastic tool for homeschool; they help students collate their learnings, understand concepts much faster, and have more fun while doing it.

From organization and research, to vetting sources of information, the hands-on approach that children need when creating lapbooks will help them develop a range of skills they can use in later life — great!

What are lapbooks anyway?

Lapbooks are essentially folders that are used to store information about a specific topic that you study. But a lapbook is much more than a bunch of class notes, it’s a multi-sensory tool that combines many different elements: from images to coloring assignments, tables and grids, foldables, and mini folders with interesting tidbits about the topic, etc. Essentially, pretty much anything you can think of!

For homeschoolers, a lapbook can look a lot like a scrapbook, particularly when you’re learning larger topics!

Lapbooking 101: How do you do it?

Lapbooks are super versatile — they can be used for pretty much any subject, and any age group! The older the student, the more elaborate their lapbooks become, but you’d be surprised what younger kids can come up with. 

But first things first: creating one…

Start with your shopping list

To make your lapbook — or, for your student to make their lapbook, more like! — you’ll need file folders, a bunch of colored paper, glue, tape, double-sided tape, and scissors. You’ll also be using your printer a lot because there are a ton of online printables, resources, and lapbooking templates out there to make your life easier! And of course, colored pencils, markers, and crayons are a must, too.

How to choose a topic

Now you’re ready to choose a topic and research it. And there are plenty of lapbooking templates available that can help you with creating all the different folders and foldouts.

If you’re unsure where to start, then find a collection of downloadable, printable worksheets and choose three of the most engaging topics — and/or the ones that fit best with your student’s current learning. It’s usually a good idea to start with a simple topic first, to get used to the idea of creating and using a lapbook for the first time. Otherwise, they might get overwhelmed trying to put too much information in.

For example, solar system worksheets are a great place to start. First up, you could create cards or pages for each planet — including a discussion around Pluto and its current designation of a “dwarf planet”. Then, write up a list of other stellar bodies that are present in the system, and so on. Keep adding pages until all the most salient points are covered — the best bit about a lapbook is that your child can go deeper and deeper into the topics that excite them the most, it’s all their creation!

Using your lapbook

You can use a variety of lessons and resources to create lapbooks and support your child’s learning. Whether it’s through YouTube videos, or worksheets, lapbooks let kids pull the most important information in a structured way so they can easily revisit and remember it.

And that’s part of the beauty of lapbooks — your child is actively learning while they create the book, and then they’ll reignite their passion, interest, and knowledge whenever they read it back.

The benefits of using lapbooking in homeschool

Lapbooks keep focus on a topic 

Keeping a lapbook updated with all the important facts takes more than just bookmarking them or writing them down. It means concentration, deciding which information is going to go in the book, and lots and lots of research! And this all requires a lot more focus on a specific topic than taking notes.

Lapbooks develop different learning styles

Not everyone learns the same way, and lapbooking can help your child discover the best way for them to retain information. Some kids learn better with images and pictures, others are more linguistic, preferring spoken and written words, and there are also those who flourish with kinesthetic styles, when you are using your hands and the sense of touch. Lapbooking combines all of this in one activity.

Lapbooking creates a structure for confusing subjects

A lapbook helps you lay out all the facts — something that’s essential when tackling large, complex, or confusing topic areas. Lapbooks are a great way to simplify difficult subjects because the key points are visually mapped out right in front of you.

Lapbooking fosters creativity

Being allowed to craft, use their hands, color, and create can provide a much-needed respite from facts and figures. This not only helps your student retain important information, but it doesn’t feel like schoolwork either! And when they’re having fun, their minds are much more open!

Lapbooking boosts presentation skills

If your child is super into their lapbooking exercise, why not take it to the next level?

Presenting their lapbook back to you, or the rest of the family, will test their understanding and help them develop much-needed presentation skills for later in life. While kids in ‘traditional’ school tend to flex their public speaking skills from a young age, homeschooled children can fall a little behind — so take every opportunity you have!

Have you tried lapbooking yet?

Lapbooks bring a whole new dimension to the learning process, making it more interactive and all the more fun! The lapbooks your student creates can be used to showcase what they’ve learned and help you monitor how well they’re progressing.

You’ll notice that the more lapbooks they make, the more creative, efficient, and effective the process becomes. Have fun!