Homemade Interactive Books

When I first saw the idea in the children's book Press Here by Herve Tullet I knew we were going to have lots of fun.  Not only the fun of reading the book together, but MAKING our own little books built on the same concept.

In Press Here each page tells your child to do something different to the little colored dots. Rub the dots, tilt the page, shake them, etc.  You turn the page, and something amazing has happened in response to the child's action.

Today we made our first couple of books built on this concept.  First- Three Teddies.

1.  Kiss the teddy on the left.
(Teddy smiles)

2.  Awwww, you made him one happy teddy!  Now blow on the middle teddy.
(Teddy's fur poofs out)

3.  Oh my!  That was a big blow!  Maybe you could give him a couple of pats to smooth down his fur.
(Teddy gets smushed)

4.  Ooops!  I guess teddy got a little bit squished.  Now take two fingers and stretch him out a little.
(Teddy is elongated)

5.  Whoa!  Tall teddy!  Tap him gently on the top of his head to get him back down to size.
(Teddy is back to normal size and now has a smile on his face)

6.  Ahhhh, much better. The teddy on the right has a secret.  Can you whisper in his ear and ask him what his secret is?

(A birthday hat appears on teddy's head)
7.  It's his birthday!  Can you run and go find a present to give to him?
(teddy smiles)
8.  He really likes the present you gave him.  Happy Birthday, Teddy!
(now all three teddies are smiling)

We also made one with balloons.  Directions included tapping the balloons, inflating them by blowing on them, turning them upside down, singing to them, and tickling them.  In response, they turned colors, got bigger, popped, donned crazy designs, and finally turned into moon balloons and went to sleep.

 There are soooo many possibilities for book-making with this concept.  No real artistic ability required (that's why I choose teddies and balloons- who can't draw those? :-) M had fun reading the book to little G, and letting little G do the actions.  I think it would be neat to let an older child MAKE a book like this for a younger sibling.

(We used a blank paperback book for this project.  For homemade books in the past we've used blank board books for longevity, but the paperbacks are smaller and have more pages- so better suited for the interactive books.)

It's Playtime!