Memories are meant to be preserved because they remind people of the good experiences they had in their life times. In order to preserve good memories and experiences, more and more parents are encouraging their children to create their own scrapbooks at an early age so they can keep their childhood memories fresh.

Indeed, scrapbooking is one of the most effective and enjoyable ways of keeping memories secure - and they are fun to look at! By collecting and keeping bits and pieces of memories together, anybody can create and tell a story. For children, scrapbooking can be a learning experience as it teaches them the value of resourcefulness, creativity, patience, and perseverance.

GETTING STARTED
Scrapbooking can be a very enjoyable activity to share with your kids. It can also be one of those activities that they can share with their playmates and friends. But, before you get excited in starting to teach your kids the beauty of scrapbooking, there are some things you need to consider.

The first thing to consider before encouraging your kids to get into scrapbooking is whether they have an interest in the craft. If your child is one of those who is into arts and into collecting mementos to create another work of art, then she or he is the perfect candidate for scrapbooking because she/he already has the drive and the creativity to create another masterpiece.

But if your child is not yet interested with crafts and arts, it doesn’t mean they cannot indulge into art of scrapbooking. In fact, this is the perfect time to introduce them into a new world of an exciting and enjoyable activity!

Aside from the interest of your child in crafts and arts, another thing you need to consider is the availability of space where your kids can do the activity. Since scrapbooking requires a lot of materials, you will need a space big enough for them to sprawl and to scatter the materials they will use for making the scrapbook. It is advisable that you provide a space where kids can do their scrapbook and a place where they can leave their stuff without it becoming a hazard or an eye sore.

Next, you need to consider the amount of materials your child will need. Since you are about to embark on simply teaching him /her basic scrapbooking, you will want the initial materials to come from things you already have in your home. Here’s a quick list of the materials and supplies your child will need: paper or scrapbook paper usually 12×12″ size, pens and colored pencils, photos, scrapbooking die-cuts and cut-outs, scrapbooking tools such as punchers, scissors, trimmers and rulers, stamps - rubber, clear and foam, adhesives and removers, stickers of different designs, color, and sizes, tags, different templates, totes and organizers, transparencies, albums and old scrapbooks, alphabets, books and scrapbooking magazines for scrapbook ideas, old cards, embellishments such as eyelets, brads, nails and tacks, colored and specialty papers, and scrapbook apparels such as scrapbook kits for starters.

Here are some cost saving tips for parents who wish to teach their children scrapbooking but don’t have the means to buy expensive scrapbooking supplies and materials:

1) Gather up old pictures and let your kids scrap the photos you no longer need.

2) Whenever you go to the photo center, be sure to ask for the double prints and let your children experiment with the doubles.

3) After completing a specific project, make sure that you put the leftovers and unused scraps in a container so the kids can use it for another scrapbooking session.

4) Go through all of your old stuff and bring out the supplies you will no longer use.

5) Guide the kids in making scrapbooks so they will not consume supplies, time and effort in doing projects they cannot use.