How to Capture Childhood Memories at Any Age
Ever have that, “Oh man! I should have thought of that!” moment with your child? Years after your child has grown, you read about a great memory-making idea and wish you would have done it for your child. Well stop the regrets! Here’s a list of great ideas to make lasting memories for your children. And you can start right now!
Maternity memories
Take a picture of yourself pregnant for each month of your pregnancy. Try to stand in the same place, facing the same direction, so you can compare your growing belly month to month. To add a little extra interest to the photo, put a chalk board in the back, identifying the month of your pregnancy and any new cravings, movement, emotions, etc.
A year of baby photos
This one has to be started when the baby is born, but is a great idea for any future children if you already have a few little ones past age one. Find a place in your house to take a picture of your child every month. To document the age, you can purchase onesie stickers from any store, etsy.com has a great set, or you can make them yourself. Many families choose to just use a chalk board and write down the age along with any new tricks the child is doing at the time. Capture one photo for each month of your child’s first year. This is great to show the progression on social media, or to post in a 12-month photo frame to capture for years to come.
When I grow-up boards
This is a great one for toddlers to start. Around age two or three, ask your child each year what she wants to be when she grow up. Buy a chalk board, and write her response on it. Each year on her birthday, take a picture of her holding the board in the same location. Sitting on stairs or leaning against a tree in the backyard are great locations as they not only show the progression in career selections, but they also show how your child has grown.
Yearly video memories
I just completed the first year of video memories for my daughter and it was a hit at her one-year birthday party. Programs like Wondershare allow you to take your cellphone photos and videos and combine them with your camera photos and videos to make a video of your child’s year. I created my daughter’s by using a mixture of photos and videos, many pulled from Facebook and our cell phones, and the quality turned out really nice. My husband and I plan to make one of these for each year of our daughter’s life, until she turns 18, so you she will have a few minute video from every year. Helpful tip: try to find a program that allows you to share the videos via social media. This is a great solution to help share the video with loved ones out-of-town.
Three-hole-punch binder of success
If your child is older than age two, you most likely already have a growing pile of art projects, doodles and tests with stickers that your child insisted you keep and proudly display. Instead of posting these items all over your house and turning your once-beautiful Pottery Barn-look-a-like house into the world’s biggest amateur art museum, consider purchasing a three-hole punch and a three-hole punch binder. Collect all of these treasures into the binder and allow your child to decorate it as he sees fit. Find a self at your house where each of your children can display their book, and keep all of their successes in one organized place. This way, children can proudly pull out the book to show guests their latest accomplishments, while preserving the memories and keeping the house neat.
