Elephant Lapbook

A while ago Yusef was reading a book called “100 Things You Should Know About Elephants” published by Miles Kelly. It’s a fascinating book packed full of fun and interesting facts. Who’d have thought there was so much to know about elephants … and Yusef has managed to cram quite  a few of those facts into this lovely lapbook, masha’Allah.

I found a great set of templates for an elephant lapbook on the Homeschool Share website which we used to complete our lapbook.

This turned into a rather large lapbook in the end containing lots of information and interesting facts. Below are pictures of what the lapbook looks like as the pages are unfolded.

First is a small flap about how elephants communicate.

Next is a double flap looking at the extinct relatives of the elephant. Yusef glued down the pictures and wrote in the information.

Here is a flap all about elephant babies.

This is a small flap book about the family names for elephants, i.e. the mother, father and baby.

Next is a petal book all about the sensitive elephant trunk.

This is a fold out book about the strong bonds between elephant herd members.

This is a triple flap Venn diagram comparing the Asian and African elephants.

Next is a flap containing a Venn diagram comparing the modern day elephant to its extinct relatives.

Here is a stack book on classification of the elephant. To learn more about classification you can check out this great Animal Classification Lapbook.

There were two blank elephant-shaped templates that we didn’t know what to do with so I thought it would be fun to stick elephant jokes on them.

Next up are some English language exercises. This is an accordion book all about elephant adjectives followed by a flap book containing elephant adjectives and synonyms.

This is a pocket of vocabulary cards related to the subject of elephants.

On each card is a word and on the reverse Yusef wrote the meaning.

This is a pocket containing an elephant jigsaw puzzle. Yusef coloured the elephant picture and then we cut it into squares that can later be pieced together to complete the jigsaw.

This whole page is dedicated to a set of vocabulary flaps.

Under each flap the word is broken down to explain the meaning.

This is a triple flap matchbook about the elphants brain, skin and tusks. Yusef wrote information under each flap.

Here is another accordion book all about Terrific Trunks containing diagrams and information.

Here is a small flap containing information about elephants ears.

This balloon-shaped book shows how long elephants live on average in the wild.

This is a factbook stapled together. On each page Yusef wrote a fact that he found interesting accompanied by a drawing.

Here is another accordion book all about trunks. Yusef copied some information from the internet into this book.

This is an interlocking book explaining why elephants are endangered.

We like this clever little window book all about Elephant Olympics. It looks at the physical things that elephants are good at and not so good at and why the case may be.

More elephant jokes…

This flap explains what elephants like to eat and how much they usually eat comparing the difference between males and females.

We learned that elephants, like humans, are mammals so in this flap book we compared and completed a checklist of mammalian features for both elephants and humans.

This flap looks more indepth at 3 mammal body organs – the brain, the heart and the lungs.

Inside each flap Yusef wrote information on how each of the organs function.

This is a small flap all about where elephants live, i.e. their habitats.

This folding window flap book is very nice, all about war elephants. The Homeschool Share website suggests answering questions on Hannibal but instead we chose to add an Islamic element and do a small history lesson on Abraha, the Yemeni Christian who came with his army of elephants to tried and failed to destroy the Ka’bah in Makkah.

 

Here is a double flap book about elephants height and weight comparing between African and Asian elephants.

Next is a nice triple flap book all about Horton the Elephant. For anyone who deosn’t know, Horton is a character creation of Dr Seuss. He is a kind and caring elephant as portrayed in the two poems penned by Dr Seuss.

We read the two poetic stories about Horton and discussed some of his characteristics. Then Yusef used that information to complete the character flaps. We also watched the film called Horton Hears a Who.

These are a set of cards strung together and taped into the lapbook. They contain information about elephant occupations.

This is a bar graph comparing Yusef’s height to the height of an African elephant and an Asian elephant as well as other animals.

Finally, on the reverse of the lapbook is an envelope containing a set of word activity worksheets, including crossword, word search, spelling games and vocabulary games.

If you would like the files for this lapbook or the worksheets you will find them available to download for free from my File Share widget on the right of the screen.

 

 

Dolphin Lapbook

This is my daughter, Samira’s lapbook all about dolphins. I found most of the templates for this on the Homeschool Share website.
I also made a few additional templates of my own and I’ve made all files available to download from my File Share widget that you will find as you scroll down the right of the screen.

This lapbook is A4 size made of two A3 sheets of card taped together which are folded in on one another to close as an A4 size book. When it opens out at the first fold you can see two sections of mini books, and further content is revealed on the 4 pages that fold out to open the entire lapbook.

One of the first mini books is a window flap book looking at the differences between dolphins and porpoises.

Under each flap Samira wrote the description of the various body parts.

Next is a square fold book about the names for the dolphin family members. It folds out to reveal the names for the mother, father and baby dolphins.

This folded flap opens to reveal a bar graph showing the sizes of different dolphins and whales.

This is a cute dolphin-shaped tri-fold book all about mammals. On each section Samira wrote about one mammalian feature and drew a picture.

Next is a hinged book looking at the differences between toothed whales and baleen whales.

Then there is a small pocket with words containing the sound “ph” in them.

This is a small colouring by numbers activity.

Here is a nice spelling activity … how many words can you make from the word ‘dolphin’ ?

This is followed by a dolphin anatomy tab book. On each page Samira pasted the diagram and wrote some information.

Next is a rectangular T-book all about dolphins that are trained and how they will work for fish.

Then we have a classification flap book.

Here is a pocket of vocabulary cards that I created for Samira.

This is a folded flap containing a Venn diagram comparing the diets of dolphins and orcas.

These are a collection of page flaps that have word activity worksheets pasted on either side including wordsearch and crosswords.

This page contains a worksheet all about dolphin babies.

Above that is a set of fun fact cards that are strung together and taped to the page.

Next up are two flaps, one about Dolphin pods and one about echolocation.

This is a tri-fold book containing a maths problem.

I created this pocket of dolphin species cards and on the reverse of each card Samira wrote the name of the dolphin and we looked them up and used an atlas to find out where in the world they can be found.

This is a triple flap match book all about the way dolphins move in and out of the water.

Finally, on the back of the lapbook is this alphabet dot-to-dot that makes a picture of a dolphin.

Cats Lapbook

As if you couldn’t tell by all the pink … yes, this is my daughter, Samira’s lapbook all about cats. I have finally got round to blogging again after a couple of months break!

Samira absolutely adores anything to do with animals, she reminds me of myself at that age, masha’Allah. She has been on at us to get a cat for ages and recently my husband surprised us with a cute fluffy bundle, a little black kitten we named Minouche which is Algerian slang for ‘little kitten’. Samira was so happy and excited and in the meantime, I redirected her focus into this adorable little lapbook packed full of facts all about cats.

I found the templates and unit study for this lapbook on the Homeschool Share website and you can download them for free from my file share widget that you can find on the right side of the screen as you scroll down.

We made this lapbook by taping two sheets of A3 card together and then folding in a tri-fold. This is how the lapbook looks when opened out.

On the first page is a diagram of a cat with its main body parts labelled.

Below that is a stack of cards showing different cat colour patterns.

On either side is a small picture of a cat coloured blue and pink. Each cat has a joke question written on the front and when the lower flap is lifted it reveals the answer.

On the reverse of the first page is a page all about cat communication. There is a table which we called ‘Tail Talk’ all about the way cats communicate with their tail and what each gesture means.

Below the table is another set of mini flaps that help to understand cat’s body language.

Next is a flap with a list of things that cats like to eat.

Next is a small flap all about how cats see colour. It was long thought that cats see in black and white, but recewnt research suggests that cats have cones in their eyes (like humans) which allow them to see certain shades of colour but they show no particular interest in colours.

Next is a small trifold containing some copy work of the poem called ‘Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat’.

Here is a flap containing mini-matchbooks showing week by week the development of a kitten, from birth to weaning. Samira wrote a little information under each of the flaps.

Next is a little tab book all about the responsibilities of looking after a pet.

This is an animal classification flap book relating to cats.

Here is a split flap book about cats eyes and why they glow in the dark.

Here Samira made a collection of cards strung together showing famous cartoon cats.

Next is a fold out flapbook book all about cat’s fur and how it protects them.

Then there is this great little flap about cat claws.

This is a stacked book containing multiplication and division problems based on numbers of cat body parts … very cute!

Next is a shutter book listing some different species of wild cats and domestic cats.

Then there is a layered book all about the herb called ‘catnip’ that cats love the smell of. The mini book lists the medicinal properties of the herb.

Here is an adorable heart shaped flap containing a photo of our kitten, Minouche.

On the reverse of the flap Samira had written a little bit about Minouche.

Next is an accordion book with lots of bits of information about cats.

And finally is a set of cards strung together. On eatch card is a catchphrase related to cats and underneath the catchprase Samira wrote its meaning.

PURRRRRFECT!

Horses Lapbook

This is my daughter, Samira’s lapbook all about horses. She became fascinated with horses recently after she got a game called Horse Life for Eid. It’s one of the more educational games available for Nintendo DS. It teaches everything you need to know about horses including riding techniques and care and grooming. It teaches all the horse vocabulary too. It’s such a fascinating game that even me (her mum) and her nan enjoyed playing it LOL!

Anyway, because of  her enthusiasm on the subject I decided to have a look around on the internet and see what I could find to put together to make a horse lapbook with her and we both learned alot along the way! I’ve even managed to include a few Islamic elements, masha’Allah. I guess it goes to show there are positive sides to computer games. I created all the printable templates for this lapbook myself (except where I have mentioned below) and I have uploaded them to my BOX file share which you will find in the menu as you scroll down the right of the screen.

When the front flaps of the lapbook are opened it reveals the first page of mini-books and tabs.

On the left flap is a mini-book and a tab and on the right flap is a t-book and a pocket. On the centre page is a tab book and a flap.

This is the front cover of a mini-book all about the names of horses. It shows how the names of the horses change as they reach different ages and levels of maturity.

Next is a tab all about what horses like to eat.

When the tab is pulled out it shows a list of the different foods with clipart images cut out and pasted down next to the word.

In the centre page is a tab book showing famous horse breeds. We chose 5 of the most well-known breeds.

First up is the Arabian which is Samira’s favourite horse.

Next up is a flap all about work horses, the front cover beautifully coloured by Samira.

Under the flap is some information all about how farmers used to use horses to pull the plough to turn the earth.

On the reverse of the other front flap is a t-book all about horse gaits – the speed at which horses move.

When the t-book is folded out it shows 4 gaits of the horse.

Below the t-book is a pocket holding the pieces of a horse jigsaw puzzle that we created.

Samira coloured an image of a mare and a foal and then I drew a jigsaw template over the top. We glued it down on the back of an empty cereal box to make it sturdy and cut it out to make the individual puzzle pieces.

On the back of the lapbook I drew the outline of the puzzle pieces.

When the centre page is folded down it reveals two further pages of mini-books.

On the reverse of the first centre page is a diagram coloured and labelled by Samira showing the parts of the horse.

I also thought it would be fun to include an optical illusion challenge. I found the optical illusion image of American Paint Horses online and glued it down for her to have a go at finding all the horses.

On the other centre page is a flap designed to look like stable doors.

Under the flaps are the face and leg markings commonly found on horses.

I found the images for these face and leg markings here. We glued them down and then taped the flaps over the top.

Next up is a mini-book all about horse care and grooming.

At the top of the page I created some spelling tiles to spell out the word horse.

When this centre page is folded back it reveals the final two pages of mini-books and pockets.

In the very centre of the lapbook are two pockets, one on horse maths and one on the importance of horses in Islam. Above the pockets is a flap book all about horse colours.

Inside the flap are pictures of horses of all different colours and shades. I found the images to create this book here.

I created a pocket to hold some maths cards. At the time we were making this lapbook Samira was learning about division and sharing so I made the cards to focus on this subject. My files are fully editable so you could always adjust them to suit your students needs.

I put together a pocket to hold two mini-books about horses in Islam.

The first mini book is designed to look like a Qur’an and when opened it reveals an ayah about the creation of horses.

The second mini-book is put together in a notebook style showing a selection of ahadith that mention horses.

On the final page is another mini book all about horse shoes and a selection on images show different equestrian sports.

When the horse sport tab is folded back it reveals another famous equestrian sport underneath.

The final mini-book is all about horse shoes. The book is actually shaped like a horse shoe. I found the template for it here.

I found this to be a good opportunity to dispel any myths regarding “lucky” horse shoes and explained the importance of reliance upon Allah and avoiding anything that comes close to shirk (reliance upon and worshipping other objects or beings besides Allah)