Here’s a craft project to make with children or use with adults showing signs of memory loss. Create a personalized photo book that captures precious moments in time to view and share with your loved one.
Whether done the old-fashioned way with photo prints, tape, glue, construction paper and string, or through online resources such as what I use, Shutterfly, making a photo book for or with a loved one is a beautiful experience. For the record, I am not a representative of Shutterfly, nor am I affiliated with Shutterfly in any way. You can find online resources for this project at your discretion. Okay, moving on.
Gather some photos prints or choose which digital pictures you think suit your purpose of the photo book. Is it about childhood for your little angel who is not so little anymore, or perhaps a collection of Life events to reminisce over with someone who’s memory is fading? Whatever the case may be, come up with a title, pick your photos and create something. Throw in a written note or comment here or there to describe some of the pictures and voila! Having children born across times when film was purchased off the shelf to photography going in the way of virtually all things digital, I have done this with great success. It is also a tool I have used as a clinician for those with dementia. Here are some title ideas from my brain that you may feel free to use for your craft. I am using my name as an example of the subject person, but you can use any title or subject that suits you. Do you homeschool? How about a "tour book" of places you and your child wish to travel to? It could fill a required school assignment or be a keepsake toward a bucket list.
Tasha: Growing Up You
Growing You Up: Tasha Through the Years
Tasha C: This is You and Your Life
Tasha and Family: This is Us
Travels With Tasha
The Shenanigans of Tasha C
Oh, the Places We Can Go: Family Edition
Once you have created your book or placed and received your order from a chosen resource, make time to share it with your child, significant other, or loved one. Make one for yourself and use it for your self-prescribed alone time when you unplug and relax. My youngest child, born after digital photography became the norm, has a photo book created with a hardback cover. Guess who keeps it with them when they go to school, the beach, the park, and on family trips. I ordered online using my digital photo album service. It’s 6” x 6” with comments throughout the book describing various pictures or noting how I felt in the captured moment as Mom. My other two children now insist they each need one in lieu of the bulky photo albums currently in use. I agree.
With the coming summer, new memories to make are on the horizon. You can do photo books for specific seasons and events as desired. I encourage you to capture Life’s moments not just for yourself today, but for many years to come and for those whom you love. Not just staged photos, but those candid shots that show the beauty of Life as it is lived in the moment.