Kindergarten Handprint Scrapbook

When my daughter was in kindergarten last year, she had the sweetest teacher!  As her room mom, we worked together really well and she was always so receptive to all the ideas I came up with for the class.  One of the most fun projects I worked on with the class was creating a scrapbook for each student.  I had seen a few ideas while browsing Pinterest, and kind of pulled together my favorite parts from each of those ideas to create our own.

This is how it worked.  Every month, I went into the classroom for a day and we worked on our scrapbook page for that month.  I used 12 x 12 paper, divided into 4 equal squares.  The design was pretty much the same for each page - one square for their name, one square for their handprint, one square for a poem and one square for a drawing/writing sample.  Everything on the page came together to represent the season or a holiday - the colors on the page, the handprint creation, and the poem.

Since our last day was in early June, I did our last handprint in May and started assembling the books to distribute to parents on the day of our end of year class picnic.  I punched two holes in each page, including the front and back cardstock pages, and bound them together with binder rings.  To make it look cute, I tied school themed ribbon to the binder rings.

I wanted to share this now, in case there are other room moms out there looking for a fun class activity that you can put together a little at a time over the course of the school year.  It was definitely a lot of work, but so worth it in the end.  The kids loved seeing the finished product and their parents were so happy with such a sweet keepsake of their year in kindergarten.  The handprints were adorable and also showed how much they had grown.

Here are some pictures from our Kindergarten Handprint Scrapbook, with notes!

Front Cover - cardstock, used memory book cover sheet found HERE
Inside Front Cover - kids drew self portrait on this sheet found HERE

September Poem
Way up high in the apple tree,
two little apples smiled at me.
I shook that tree as hard as I could!
Down came the apples.
Mmm, they were good.

September drawing/writing - kids drew a picture of something they learned about in kindergarten; they dictated their statement, I wrote it

September Handprints - apple trees

October Poem
5 little owls on a moonlit night, 5 little owls are quite a sight
5 little owls are you keeping score? One flew away!  And then there were 4.
4 little owls happy as can be.  One flew away!  Then there were 3.
3 little owls calling "Whoo!  Whoo!"  One flew away!  And that left 2.
2 little owls having lots of fun.  One flew away!  And that left 1.
1 little owl we are almost done.  He flew away!  And that leaves none.

October drawing/writing - kids used Halloween stickers

October Handprint - candy corn

November Poem (poem was underneath picture that kids colored)
Five little turkeys open the barn door.
One waddled off, then there were four.
Four little turkeys sitting under the tree.
One waddled off, then there were three.
Three little turkeys don't know what to do.
One waddled off, then there were two.
Two little turkeys looking at the sun.
One waddled off, then there was one
One little turkey better run away.
Soon will come Thanksgiving Day!

November drawing/writing - writing template:  _____ is thankful for ______.

November Handprint - turkeys

December Poem
We're thinking of you this time of year.
Wishing you happiness, joy and cheer.
May all your days be warm and bright.
And your nights filled with holiday light.

December drawing/writing - they drew a picture of a gift they wanted for the upcoming holidays

December Handprint - reindeer

January Poem
I wiggle my left hand, I wiggle my right,
inside my mittens, warm and tight.
I wiggle my pinkie, I wiggle my thumb,
when I make snowballs, my hands don't get numb.
I wiggle my left hand, I wiggle my right,
inside my mittens, warm and tight.

January drawing/writing - cut out paper snowflakes

January Handprint - hand inside mitten

February Poem
Valentines, valentines
Pink, red and blue,
I've made a pretty one,
Just for you!

February Handprint - two hands to make a heart

March Poem
I'm a little leprechaun.
Can't you see?
I'm as tiny as can be.
I only come around just once a year,
that's when St. Patrick's Day is here!

March drawing/writing - lucky penny, found design HERE

March Handprint - leprechaun

April Poem
Reduce, reuse, recycle,
recycle, recycle.
Reduce, reuse, recycle,
it's easy to do!
'Cause your trash,
and my trash,
make up way
too much trash.
Reduce, reuse, recycle,
it's easy to do!

April drawing/writing - writing template: I can help the Earth by _____.

April Handprint - Earth

May Poem
Dig a little hole,
Plant a little seed,
Pour a little water,
Pull a little weed.
Chase a little bug,
Heigh-Ho there he goes,
Give a little sunshine,
Let it grow, grow, grow!

May drawing/writing - draw/write about an activity you like to do outside

May Handprint - flower (tulip)

The last page was a class picture we took outside one day.  I had all the kids sign a piece of paper, made copies, and inserted this on the last page with the class photo in the middle.  A sweet little keepsake to help them remember their friends!