As soon as the new school year starts, children have so many mixed feelings to deal with! Soon they’ll see their friends again, they’ll start studying more rewarding and complex subjects, and they’ll spend less time at home than during holidays.

However, every start of a school year also brings a brand new opportunity for the little ones to express themselves and their creativity by decorating their own notebooks and school supplies! It’s a nice way of letting their personalities shine while customizing the everyday items, and an easy way to help the little ones feel more motivated to go to school and have fun learning.

If your child is eager to start his or her new school year with an artsy twist, there are some ideas to make the best notebooks that are also original and pretty, and with easy-to-find materials to work at home.

Notebooks With Stripes

(Pinterest)

This striped notebook is a great idea for the little ones that prefer simple, structured but colorful designs. It’s very easy to do and requires simple materials.

?? Materials:

• Notebook
• Scissors
• Colored adhesive tape
• Markers or colored gel pens

Making the striped notebook:

1. First, your little one will need to decide if he or she wants to do a horizontal design, a vertical one, or if he or she wants to mix both.
2. Once the basic design is decided, it’s time to start cutting the tapes and pasting them into the notebook. To do this, grab one of the tapes and cut a piece of the desired length. Place it on the notebook, making sure it’s straight.
3. Grab another piece of a different tape and also place it on the notebook, right next to the previous one.
4. Repeat the third step with different pieces of tapes with different lengths until the whole front of the notebook is covered. Make sure to cut the tape a little longer close to the edges, so it can cover the whole edge from the front of the cover and to the back.
5. Now, flip the notebook and repeat the previous steps to cover the back as well. You can follow the same pattern used in the front or you can switch it to make a different design on the back.
6. If your little one wants to, he or she can draw figures on the tapes using the markers or colored gel pens to add more details.

Dots, Dots, Dots!

(Pinterest)

Some people like lines, while others like dots! This next project is perfect even for the youngest of the house since it’s fairly easy to make and the results are beautiful. The idea is to make a notebook with dots on the cover using the collage technique.

?? Materials:

• Notebook
• White paper or white sticky back plastic film
• Clear glue
• Scissors
• Circle sticker of different colors
• Markers, gel pens, or metallic pens of assorted colors
• Clear sticky back plastic film

Steps to make the dots design:

1. Wrap the covers of the notebook with the white paper or the white plastic film. This will create the perfect canvas to appreciate the dots.
2. Grab the circles and paste them into the covers of the notebook. You can do any design you want! You can organize them in rows, or you can leave them floating around the paper for a more natural look.
3. Don’t be afraid of overlapping the circles if you maybe want to achieve a more colorful design.
4. This last step is a bit more complicated, so you can help your little one at this point. Grab a piece of clear plastic film and wrap the covers of your notebook with it. This will make it more durable and will protect the covers from dust, water, and signs of wear.

Fresh Watermelon Notebook

A fresh idea for the little ones! This DIY notebook is perfect for those kids that enjoy fun, original designs inspired by delicious fruits.

?? Materials:

• Craft paper of the following colors: red, green and white (If you prefer, instead of craft paper, you can use felt)
• Black marker
• Glue
• Notebook

How to make the watermelon notebook:

1. First, wrap both covers of the notebook using the red craft paper. Make sure that there surface is smooth and properly glued.
2. Grab the white paper and cut a long piece, an inch longer than the upper edge of your notebook, and about two inches wide.
3. Glue this piece along the edge of the upper part of the notebook.
4. Now, grab the green paper and cut a piece of the same length as the white one, but just an inch wide.
5. Glue it over the white piece, close to the edge, covering the whole upper part of the white part.
6. Grab a marker and draw the seeds on the red side. You can make them of slightly different, just like regular seeds, but of similar sizes. Space them out across the red part of the notebook.

Using these three different techniques your little one can achieve different looks.

For example, following the steps for the striped notebook, you can change the design by using pieces of the colored sticky back plastic film instead of adhesive tape, like cutting it into triangles or squares. Or, copying the process to make the fresh watermelon notebook, you can make other fruits by using different colors and mimicking their basic shapes.

It’s all a matter of creativity and imagination. Make sure to always supervise your little one when using scissors, and just have fun making these special customizable designs!