All About Me Foldable Explosion Books

One of the first projects my 4th/5th grade students created this year were personal “About Me” folded squash books.  The kids were introduced to a simple foldable bookmaking technique and then they personalized them with drawings and collages about themselves.  Each section of the book had a prompt to get them started.

I showed them a video demonstration of how to assemble the book and I provided square templates printed on card stock.  Both the video, templates and instructions are available for purchase in my shop.  It is a great lesson.  The kids were so excited to make their books.  It’s very interactive and leaves a lot of room for creativity.

Why buy the video?  Everything is demonstrated for the kids already.  Assembling and folding can be tricky.  Playing the video allows the children to follow along with the instructions, while you walk around and help them.

If you don’t want to buy the video and template, you can certainly replicate the same experience by demonstrating this folded book technique and giving them prompts for each section.

We used Sharpie markers, colored pencils, magazine images, construction paper and my favorite, patterned Washi tape!!

One of the kids had more fun decorating the back of his squash book with this fun pattern!

Let me know what you think!  Have you ever created squash books?