1st Grade Class Scrapbook, need ideas please

[Stamp 'n' Sparkle]

My daughter is in 1st Grade and her teacher asked if anyone would be willing to put together a few photos a month so that the kids go home at the end of the school year with a memory book. As I stamp I took on the challenge but don't know how to bind them all together to make it look nice but also be durable for 6-7 year olds.
The teacher thinks it will be 8 months of photos so it may be 16 pages! I'm thinking maybe 8x8. I don't want to ask the teacher for money but I don't want to spend too much on it either, I will need to make 23 of these (that includes one for the teacher too
Anybody made these before?
Any tips or ideas?
Thanks
Zee

[lutheran]

First send a letter home to all the parents to find all the other scrappers so you do not have to do this project alone. Focus on a few key events such as a field trip, a special day at school like dress crazy day and a class party like Halloween or end of the year. Then add a few photos of each kid alone and a few with their buds and teacher and call it a day. Your school should have a laminating machine and a binding machine for you to use on this project. Do not use 3D embellishments if you heat laminate as it makes bumps and bubbles.
Mary Beth

[koopdedoo]

Our 3rd grade classes did a scrapbook for a while...the pages were card stock, no plastic protectors, and we bound them together with the plastic comb thingies (what are they called?? the school had the machine to punch the holes, hold the comb open).

The 3rd graders actually made the pages themselves, with the photos/text the teachers provided for them (photos taken at class activities, field trips, etc). And lots of stickers, scrapbook paper, etc.

Kathy

The laminating machine at school was used for the 2 covers...but I don't recommend it at all...the card stock was almost too thick for it alone, let alone with a photo and paper on top of it. I even redid several, trying to help them stick better, but it didn't help much.

[jolitwilly]

I do a scrapbook for each of my students each year. I use cardstock cut in half and use both sides of the cardstock. As a previous poster said I laminate the cover but the lamination doesn't want to stick very well due to the thickness. I put the books together using a binding machine that the school owns.

[Furph's wife]

I did this for my son's KDGN and First grade class then for my youngest dd's Kdgn class. I did them 81/2x11. I spoke with the teachers about what events they will be doing for the year and if someone could take pictures.

This is a very big expense and a very big project, you have the cardstock base and the photos to develop and whatever you choose to bind them with also adhesive (you will use a ton of it) not to mention the time involved. A big
tip I can give you is to stay organized and get started now.

Figure out what events the class will be participating in (I don't have the books in front of me to refer to they are upstairs) we started off with an "About Me page" and that was a page with just a picutre of each child along with a short little interview of their favs and things like that. Then there is pumpkins with dad and "Winter Holiday party" Gingerbread House day" St. Patrticks, Valentines, Field Day, Class Trip, Easter break (spring break party) just a few to name. All pages were done front and back sides so I had to really coordinate the events with the color of the background pages.
Once you plan all your pages and get them made up then you just have to put pictures of the kids on it.
One suggestion you make it the same for every child if they were not there for the event than you put a little typed thing that says Sorry you missed the fun we had or something like that. We did do a little journal box that we typed up on the computer for most of the events ie: FIRE SAFETY (for the title then something like : We learned about Fire Safety and what to do if we had a fire. We also got to see the Fire Truck and crawl through the smoke house. Then put a picture of the whole class outside by the fire truck .

For bindingbought page protectors cut off the tabs on the side and used the binding machine @ the school, but that was the very last thing we did cause once it was bound there was no taking it apart. Another one we did we put together with page protcetors and folded a piece of cardstock over the tabs then put LARGE eyelets through and that works great. FOr my daughters we just went ahead and bought binders (I found them on sale really cheap.)

The main thing is make a sort of prototype of all you want to do then get all the pages done then put the pictures together. Using your stamps is great, but you can also use the schools die cut machine and dies just to change it up a bit (we used several things like stamps die cuts and the computer).
Send a letter home to all the parents and ask for help and donations cause just buying the adhesive is expensive. And I hate to say it, but don't use all your expensive SU stuff, definatly use the cheaper alternative cardstock that you can get @ Micheal's, Wal-Mart, HL, etc.
Good luck with your project and it will get a bit overwhelming at times, but really enjoy the process cause it will be done before you know it and your first grader will be going into middle school before you know it. (DS is in 5th grade now and some of the classmates that recieved the scrapbooks in either kdgn or first will still comment on them and the parents tell me the kids still look at them). It is worth it, but don't go it alone.!