DIY For Young Book Lovers: Create Your Own Magnetic Story Board
This DIY magnetic story board gets a ton of use in our home. It’s a wonderful way to encourage your child’s love for reading and boost language skills.
There are few things as amazing as the imagination of a child engulfed in a book. You can help encourage a love of reading by getting your child into the story with an easy to make story board.
This story board was given to my son for his 10th birthday by a family who loves the Harry Potter series as much as we do. It has brought countless hours of interactive fun – and a little friendly competition – to our whole family.
We get out the books and recreate sentences straight from the text or the boys laugh at who can make the longest / most random / goofiest phrases.
And because our friends went the eco-friendly route by using a piece of scrap metal protected in an upcycled picture frame, this was a project I had to share with our readers.
DIY Magnetic Story Board Materials
- Printable magnetic sheets
- Reclaimed photo frame
- Scrap sheet metal, and baking sheet, or flat magnetic board
Instructions
- Ask your child to choose his or her favorite book (or books) and create a document of words that will help them build stories.
- Character names, items, locations, and a variety of commonly used words. (Check out this great list to get you started.)
- Be sure to leave space between the words and use double spaced lines.
- Print the words on the magnetic sheets and cut them out.
- If you are using a reclaimed photo frame, carefully cut the sheet metal to fit your frame. Take special care as the edges may be sharp. You can add a thin layer of tape to the edges to prevent scratches until the metal is framed.
- If you’re using a baking sheet, decorate the edges with non-toxic paint to match the theme of your story board or to go with your child’s room if they’ll be keeping it on display.
This is a great activity for your child to do solo, but it also works well with a friend. Or it can make a fun addition to family game night. And as we’ve found, it makes a great green gift for birthday parties or holidays.