Summer goes by so fast. You blink and it’s time to get school supplies and get ready for another school year. What you’re left with is lovely memories of a fun summer spent with the family. Why not hold on to those memories by creating a family scrapbook or memory box.
Make it a family affair by creating it together. It will be a wonderful memento and something everyone involved will come back to again and again.
A Summer Scrapbook
Take pictures throughout the summer, save ticket stubs and other mementoes and turn them into a family scrapbook that records everything you’ve done this summer. Once a week, or whenever you get back from a fun event take a minute to make a few notes about what you want to add to your book about it.
Get everyone in the family involved. Have them share pictures, drawings, mementoes, and their favorite memories about each summer trip and activities. Print pictures and create the scrapbook pages together. Even if you’re not much of a scrap booker, you’ll enjoy putting this memory book together.
As time goes by, your summer scrapbook will become a family treasure you’ll go back to again and again to relive those summer days.
A Family Memory Box
If the idea of a scrapbook doesn’t appeal to you and your loved ones, consider making a memory box instead. It’s similar to the summer vacation scrapbook, but instead of collecting images, stories, and ticket stubs in an album, everything goes into a box. Old shoe boxes work very well for this.
You can decorate the outside with drawings, pictures, or paper that reminds you of summer. Then stick various different things in your box. The big advantage of a box is that it can hold three dimensional items that won’t fit into a scrapbook. You can add a special rock or seashell your kids picked up for example.
Like an album, the box will be something you’ll fondly open from time to time to remember this special summer. Create one every year and make sure you label each box well. It also helps to have a few notes about what you did when to each box’s inventory.
Digital Options if You Prefer
Since we live in a digital age, I thought I’d include a few digital memory keeping options as well. The easiest thing to do is to create a folder on your computer or hard drive, or use a dedicated flash drive to save all pictures and videos you’ve taken throughout the summer. A nice addition would be a series of quick video interviews with each family member that includes their favorite memories from the summer.
Another fun option is to create a family blog that chronicles your summer adventures. Set up a free blog where you share what you’re up to each day or week, along with pictures and videos. Not only is it a nice way to capture your memories for yourself, you can also share it with family and friends who would love to see what you’re up to all summer.
No matter how you choose to do this, spend a little time capturing and saving those fun summer memories this year. You’ll be glad you did a few months and years down the road when you can look back on what you’ve captured this summer.
