Like many toddlers, my daughter loves ripping apart her books.
Generally, to help preserve the books, we only give her board books and try to take the ones with flaps away from her when she starts tearing. Still, there are always those moments when we turn away for a minute too long and she rips a flap completely, or nearly completely, off. Her latest victim: The crocodiles in the board book Sleepy or Not, Mr Croc?
This is why I set about looking into easy ways to repair board books, and children’s books in general, and for today’s hint, I’ve gathered a few helpful book fix-it tips I came across during my research.
A board book that fell victim to my daughter’s tearing.
1.) A fix for torn-off flaps. According to moms on a local message board, the “best glue” for fixing board book and book flaps is clear packing tape. And as one of them noted, remember to tape both sides of the flap when you’re repairing the book.
2.) How to repair a broken spine. Diedre over at the blog Playing to Learn offers some helpful instructions for fixing broken board book spines using white glue, a small paint brush and anything that will provide pressure (like a couple of heavy books or clamps, if you have them).
3.) Transform an unpopular book. And of course there are fixes for changing board books your child (or you) just don’t like. You could try altering the board book similar to how Whitney Moss of the site Rookie Moms did to make a really clever Father’s Day gift that her husband and son enjoying reading together.
What are your tips for repairing, and altering, board books and children’s books in general?
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These are all great tips! It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who has to constantly repair or recycle my kid’s books.