How to make a Book (from ONE piece of paper!)


In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday on Monday, March 2nd, we are making little books around here. Want to join in the fun?

This book is made from ONE piece of paper with just 3 cuts! Here is what you will need: 1 piece of 12"x12" CARD STOCK works best, but paper might do if you don't have some. You will also need some scissors and a glue stick. That's it!


This is what our "Book of Love" looked like from Valentine's Day. You can make yours be about anything. My friend Jessica taught me how to make these. She used them to teach a pre-school lesson. Some things we've tried: my 5 senses, nativity book, shapers, letters, math, my favorites, etc. There are 15 pages when we are done!

This time I will have the kids illustrate the book and then ask them to tell me what each picture is about and I will write that in.

Here are the instructions. I used paper that is green on one side and blue on the other to help you see the process better.  Let me know if you need more info :)

1-Take your 12"x12" cardstock paper and fold it in half.
2-Then take one side and fold it into your middle-fold.
3- Do step 2 with the other side too.

4-Then turn the paper so the folds you just made are going horizontally in front of you and fold the paper vertically in half the other way too.
5-Now repeat step 2 folding the paper into the middle-fold. 
6-Now repeat step 3 and fold the other side into the middle-fold.
Here is what your paper looks like now.  There should be 16 little boxes.
You can see all the boxes here.



7-The 1st cut:  Start from the lower left side and cut up the first strip along the fold line-STOP---before you cut the last box.  You should only cut the first 3 boxes and then stop at the fold line for the last box.
I must have not photographed the next part well...so here is what the next 2 steps look like done!  This is what I did:  

8-The 2nd cut comes from the other direction.  Start cutting from the top of the paper----and STOP---when you get to the fold of the 4th box.  You should only cut 3 boxes.

9- The 3rd cut comes from the lower side again-like the 1st cut.  Cut 3 boxes and then STOP!  Don't cut into the 4th box.  All of these cuts are just cutting along the fold lines.

Now you start folding.
We are just folding along the lines you have already created. Some will fold Up and some are Down. It's kind of like folding a fan :)

1-Start from the lower left side and fold up.  You can see here that my paper is blue on the other side.  Hopefully that will help you see how this is done.  
2- This is kind of like folding a fan...Then next fold goes down:
3-The last fold for the first cut goes up.  It should look like this:
4-Now take that bunch and fold it down, under the 2nd strip of paper like this:
5-Now fold up for the next fold like this:
6-Now fold down to go under like this:
7- Now fold up so that when you finish that row it looks like this:
8- To start folding into the next row you need to fold down to bring the bunch under like this:
9-Now fold up to look like this:
20-Next fold the bunch down to go under like this:
11-Here you are at the end of that row by folding the bunch up:
12-To start the last row, just fold the bunch down to go under like this:
13- Now fold up, so the bunch is on top, like this:
14-Now fold the bunch down to go under-you're almost done!
15-Now fold up to finish like this:
Good job!  It was just like folding a fan (sort of)!



Now we GLUE:
Put your folded paper down so that it looks like this:
 You will have MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS.  Then you will have a few folds that open to the front or the back that don't make good mountains and valleys.  Those are where you glue first.

1-glue here (not a good mountain/valley)
2-Then glue here, towards the middle:
3- Here is the last "non-mountain or valley."  Do you like all these "technical" terms :)
4-After you finish those 3 glue spots, your book looks like this: all mountains and valleys!
5-Now lay the book on it's side like this:

The "blue" side of the paper is on the inside.  That is the side we will be gluing.

6-Glue here on the "blue" side:
7-Next glue here on the "blue" side:
8-Now glue here on the "blue" side:
9- Lastly, glue here on the "blue"side:

This is what the book looks like after gluing all the "blue" sides:
You can be done right now and you will have 9 pages (including the front and back cover) or you can glue the ends in to make them sturdier and finish with 7 pages (14 front and back).

10-If you want to glue the covers to make them sturdier, glue the "green" side here:

11-And glue the "green" side here:

Now your book looks like this:

Now lay your book back down and it looks like this (size compared to the scissors).

Yippee, you are done!

Now, you can title your book anything you want and start writing!
There you have it: your own book!  That was a fun Little Project! If you would like more Dr. Seuss fun, check out how to make a Wocket Pocket and ABC Word Food.

Make A Wocket in Your Pocket


If you need an excuse to add a Dr. Seuss book to your home library, his birthday is just that good excuse. This year we got we got the little board book "There's a Wocket in Your Pocket," which is so cute and little that it could actually fit right into your pocket!

Today we did some wocket-pocket making, rhyming game, and even "wrote" a poem together. Dr. Seuss plays with his words, so to say, so we did that too.  Check it all out below.


First, the Pocket and Wocket instructions:

You need: 2 sheets of craft foam, yarn, tape, stickers, and a hole puncher for your Wocket Pocket.

1st-cut one sheet to make a pocket (blue)
2nd- cut a 2 inch piece off the bigger piece (green) to make your Wocket with.
3rd- Lay the 2 pieces on top of each other and punch holes through them together (so that the holes match up
4th- Cut a piece of yarn longer than you think you will need :)
5th- Put a piece of tape around one end of the yarn so it will thread through easily.  Tie a knot in the other end.
6th- Start at the back and pull the yarn through to the front (leaving the knot in the back.)
7th- Continue lacing around the pocket.  Tip: Have an even number of holes so that you finish coming out the back.  Then your knot at the end will be at the back.
Tip: Using craft foam means that your pocket won't rip like it would if it were paper.  But you also need a bigger knot to hold.  Foam stretches a little and your knot can pop through easier.


Here is the Wocket:


1- Punch 2 holes in the top-side by side.
2- Punch 2 eyes and a mouth
3- Thread the yarn through the 2 holes starting from the front so the "tail" of your yarn is left hanging for hair in the front.  Bring the yarn back up through the other hold.  Cut it.  Tie in place.  Repeat for more hair.  I hope that made sense.  It is easy to do and hard to explain :)
Use stickers to put "Wocket" and "Pocket" on your Wocket Pocket.
I love stickers for pre-schoolers.  You could also write these words on.

We made a Wocket for baby Kay to play with too.
Such fun little friends :)
There you go: a Pocket for your Wocket!


We played a rhyming game
I said, "nose" and Jay said, "toes!"
I said, "mop." He said, "top!"
It was really fun to make up funny words that rhymed too. Dr. Seuss would be proud to know that our kiddos still have funny a make-it-up-words vocabulary!



Here is Jay "playing" with words on the fridge.  I have a ton of these little magnetic letters and they entertain (educationally) for a long time!


Here is an online Rhyme Generator. You type in a line, and it spits out a poem for you! Try it out HERE.

I typed in, "Here is my nose" 
and this is the poem I got:

"Here is my nose

I would, perhaps, think a line to be too long, if I could

at least thats what I suppose

I'd rather be a rabbit than a snail, If I should..."

Our little Wockets have been so fun to carry around in our Pockets today!


Enjoy your Wocket Pocket Little Project!

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