I might be a little addicted to making mini books!
They are so cute and so quick and very satisfying to make. Saying that, if I were looking to make one for each child in a group of ten or more, I would definitely call in some help!
I have two main ways I like to make book:
1 This one with a cover
2 This one using only one sheet of A4 paper
What I love about both these books is that they only need A4 paper and scissors. You can glue them in one place, but they work fine without it. How cool is that?
I first learnt how to make these books on a video by Red Ted Art. She makes loads of cool stuff, and I first adapted these Minion books to be Minion Mary books! The idea is to have a mini-book which looks like a person, giving you space to draw or write the Christmas story from the perspective of that character, in this case, Mary. It’s an interesting activity to do, either telling the story about her or telling in the first person as if you are her. The size of the book also limits how much you can draw or write, meaning you have to process the story quite a bit to put just the most important parts in your book.
The second thing I did with this style of mini-book was to make one each week for me to write what I was reading in the Bible and who I prayed for each day. Again, the tiny format forced my to be succinct, and for people who are not really into drawing or writing, a smaller space often makes filling it more accessible. You could, of course, use it for either a Bible verse OR a prayer rather than both if you prefer! As with all the ideas I share here, I’m keen that you’re flexible and make them work well for you and your faith journey!
Having used these in two ways, I thought I’d put together a list of things you can do with mini-books. I would recommend watching the Red Ted video on how to make the books and have a go – it’s really quite easy – I’ve even got a room full of people in Romania making it with me doing instructions through a translator! You can adapt them by doing different coloured covers and inners, as well as using different size paper – starting with A3 paper gives you a much larger book, which is particularly helpful for younger children who might struggle to draw in a tiny book.
- Character books – Make a book with a Bible character on the front and use the page to tell their story (as above). You could even make multiple books and tell the same story from the perspective of different characters in the story. For example, the story of the Exodus from Egypt from the point of view of Moses, Pharaoh, Miriam and Zipporah! Or an Israelite child and an Egyptian child! (See Fire by night for inspiration on this story!)
- My quiet time book – Make a book and put your name and the date on the front and use each page to write what you are reading in the Bible and praying about that day.
- Prayer journal – Make a book and draw a picture or write the name of someone at the top of each page then write what you are praying for them and the date. It’s a great way to be able to see what prayers God has answered!
- Thanks book – Make a book and write THANKS on the front, then see if you can fill it with words or pictures or things you are thankful for! You could then also use it in a time of spoken prayer on your own or with others. Or share what’s in it with others and sing a thanks song to God for all the good things he’s done.
- Bible Theme Spotting – Make a book and write a word you’d like to explore in the Bible on the cover. Then use each page to note down something about that theme from a different part of the Bible. One theme you could try is bread – use biblegateway to search for references of bread in the Bible, then pick 6 to read and note down your thoughts on in your theme book.
- Share a story – Create a book of your favourite Bible story and send it to a friend to share that story with them, or read it to them live on a video call or record yourself telling the story and send it to them.