Handmade ideas to brighten up your preschool graduation album: fun to create, delightful to receive!

10 years as a kindergarten teacher / elementary school teacher / junior and senior high school teacher / childminderkepiko
Graduated from Kunitachi College of Music, Faculty of Music (now: Department of Music Culture and Education, Early Childhood Music Education major). In elementary school, my homeroom teacher was Jun Kusaba, a game researcher. After graduating from university, I worked as a kindergarten teacher for 10 years and as an after-school childcare instructor for 7 years, then took a position as a music teacher at an international school in Singapore. In addition to music education, I engaged in activities that introduced Japanese culture, traditional games, and recreational activities, working with many children. Later, through freelance writing, planning, and editing at Shogakukan, I met many delightful adults and experienced the joy of communicating and sharing. Drawing on the perspective cultivated in the field of education and my experience as an editor, I provide practical information with an emphasis on both input and output, mainly in areas related to music and children. My hobbies include instruments, singing, handicrafts, toys, drawing, traditional games, the outdoors, and books. My special skill is spinning-top tricks.
20 years of experience as a nursery teacher / kindergarten teacherhiyoko sensei
I’m Hiyoko-sensei, a former nursery school teacher from Hyogo Prefecture. Ever since I was five, my dream was to become a childcare worker, and before I knew it, 20 years had passed since I achieved that dream. Through singing and playing with the children, I kept working with the spirit of someone in their twenties, even as I increasingly felt my physical limits year by year (haha). From here on, I’d like to share helpful information carefully and thoughtfully, drawing on my on-site experience.

We’ve gathered wonderful ideas for parents and teachers creating handmade graduation albums.

You’ll find tips for heartfelt albums, including decorations using construction paper, ways to incorporate children’s drawings, and how to make individual pages.

We also introduce ideas you can use for albums presented to teachers, as well as decorations with origami and felt—perfect for capturing kindergarten and nursery school memories.

Try making a one-of-a-kind graduation album together with the children!

Handmade ways to brighten up your preschool graduation album! Fun to make, delightful to receive: Idea Collection (11–20)

[Class Photo] Class motif decorations

If you design it with the class as a motif, opening it will likely bring back memories with your friends.

Classes often have names like “Sora-gumi,” right? In that case, you could use a sky illustration for the background or choose a pale light blue.

Similarly, for “Sakura-gumi,” try scattering cherry blossoms, and for “Zō-gumi,” place an elephant character.

This will highlight the unique originality of the class and give the entire album a lively impression.

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yamamoto

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[Lace-style Material] Create a Photo Frame

Graduation albums tend to use a large number of photos, which can make it hard to see what the highlight of each page is.

Also, if you decorate them too colorfully, people’s attention may focus only on the decorations rather than the photos.

Using lace stickers that you can buy at 100-yen shops is a good idea.

Their soft look doesn’t distract from the photos, and the added texture gives a natural finish.

It’s an easy tip that makes the children—the stars of the album—easier to see.

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Hoshino Takashi

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Add decorations tailored to the event

Kindergartens and daycare centers are places filled with many memories for children.

You probably have photos capturing a variety of their expressions.

To make it easier to see which photo belongs to which event, why not decorate the album according to each event? Not only will it make browsing through many photos easier, but it will also make the album itself more vibrant and add to the joy of opening it.

It’s a simple idea that brightens the entire album while making the children’s smiles look even cuter.

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Hoshino Takashi

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Soap Bubble Title

An idea often seen in kindergartens and nursery schools is to place letters inside soap bubbles.

It looks much cuter than simply writing the letters, so it’s highly recommended.

Even though they’re “soap bubbles,” you can easily make them by cutting out circles and attaching a glossy-looking highlight.

To make it clear they’re bubbles, place a child or animal blowing bubbles next to them; that makes it easier to understand.

If you cut colored paper and assemble it like a collage, it adds a three-dimensional feel and turns out very cute.

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Hirakawa Masako (Bōkarisuto: Sakata Mizumako)

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Decorate with nail parts

If you want to add a touch of sparkle to your album, why not try using nail art parts? Because they’re very tiny, they’re perfect for delicate decorations.

Scatter them in the background or arrange them in lines—definitely consider using them as accents in a preschool graduation album.

One drawback of three-dimensional parts is that they can catch on things and come off easily.

Avoid using them on easily handled pages like the cover, and when decorating inside the album, make sure to secure them firmly with a glue gun or adhesive.

If you decide on the finished look of the page before purchasing the parts, you can reduce mistakes.

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yuri

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Use drawings made by children

Children’s drawings are truly heartwarming for parents, aren’t they? It’s also delightful to watch their skills grow with age.

How about using your child’s artwork in the preschool graduation album? You could have them draw their parents’ faces, of course, but it’s also great to ask them to draw their favorite things or memorable moments from nursery or kindergarten.

Try incorporating each child’s special masterpiece into the album.

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Yuuki