But reading as an adult and reading with children is different and helping them take a break and continue again from where they stopped needs to be made interesting. Chetana Parameshwar- one of our contributors- reads regularly with her son. They spent an afternoon together making bookmark corners. Here they are, sharing their story.
Bookmark corners:
We have come to a point where my almost 6-year-old is interested in reading fairly big books. These obviously cannot be fully read at one stretch. But my boy refused to put away the books without keeping them upside down, lest he forgets to start on the correct page again. So we sat down one afternoon to make our own bookmark corners. Bookmark corners are easy and fun for little ones to make (with some help) and to use.
Material needed:
- Ready origami paper squares. If you don’t have these, regular A4 printer sheets can also be used
- Ruler and pencil (if using the A4 printer sheets)
- Scissors
- Glue
- White round stickers (for eyes) or you can draw your own white circles on paper and cut them out
- Sketch pens
- Small pieces of coloured or white paper to decorate the bookmark corners
Detailed steps:
1. If you’re using A4 printer sheets, draw a square of 16cmx16cm or 12cmx12cm, if you would like smaller bookmark corners. (Adult help needed)
2. Cut out the squares in different colours, depending on how many bookmarks corners your little one is ready to make.
3. If you’re using origami paper squares, you can skip steps 1 and 2 and start here.Fold the square diagonally into a triangle.
4. Now using the corners of the triangle fold them to meet the center of the triangle.
5. Open up the folds from Step 4. Pull up the triangle center to the center point of the step 4 folds. Leave the lower sheet as is.
6. Now go back to doing the fold from step 4. Use the little pocket created by step 5 to tuck the rest of the triangle corner. Repeat on the other side.
7. You will end up with a small square with a pocket for tucking the book pages into. A basic bookmark corner is now ready.
8. Using stickers and sketch pens, decorate your bookmark corners to make animals or superheroes or emoticons as you like. (Adult help needed). Let your thrilled little one use these in different books.
Disclaimer: Opinions and methods expressed are solely of the writer. Namaste Switzerland does not undertake any obligation or liability which may arise from the content.
