Create Your Own Matchbox Books

I saw these Matchbox Books on the Nuture Store and it inspired me to create one of these with my kids. While we’re not so crafty, I had my kids decide how they wanted to decorate their boxes, and they decided to use my new stash of washi tape.

Matchbox Book Supplies

Matchboxes
Paper
Decorative tape
Construction or decorative paper
Glue
Optional – Beads, buttons

Polar Bear Washi Masking Tape With Cute Dispenser,Pacon Tru-Ray Construction Paper, 9-Inches by 12-Inches, 50-Count,Wooden Box Matches with Plain White Cover, 50

Integrate literacy with art and have your child create their own matchbox books. I know any child can write their own stories but the added fun of creating a mini book and then decorating the box is even more special. When my kids created their own books, they had to plan what would go onto each page to ensure that it was filled out and that it made sense to the reader.

For our matchbox book, my son drew one of his favorite animals in the center of the open page. The book then folds up, and he wrote 3 clues for the reader to see if they can guess what animal was inside.

Make it a game

We talked about how the clues should give a good hint but not be too obvious either. That they would have to use all of the clues to guess which animal it was.

My 4 year old daughter did not want to follow our format but instead decided to draw on each of the pages her own story. It included a dinosaur being ridden around by her and her brother. She filled each space of her book with a drawing since she saw her brother working so hard on it.

We folded our paper using a french fold (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmPZlFBR6I8&feature). As the page is open, I had my son draw his animal inside, he did this in secret and wouldn’t let me see. Then we folded it up so it was in a booklet and then there were 3 pages in the book so he had to come up with 3 clues.

He wrote that his animal had a long neck, lived in the sea and was not small. It was a plesiosaur. I guessed it right away only because he asked me if the animal had to be living so I know my dinosaur lover was going to choose a prehistoric animal.

You can change this up and have them guess a plant or favorite toy, food, place, book or movie character. There are so many ways you can add this activity to your home.

The best part is decorating the matchbox because they wanted them to be perfect and now they have a way to keep their little book safe.