Kids can write and draw in their own homemade journal.

Making Field Journals

As ever-changing environments, gardens and habitats naturally spark curiosity. What better place to record observations and reflections than in a homemade field journal. 

Materials

• 1 sheet 8 5/8" x 13 1/4" cover weight or heavier paper.
• 8 sheets 8½" by 11" paper (any combination of lined, unlined, or graph paper; use longer sheets if you want to have fold-out pages)
• 32" waxed linen thread or other strong narrow twine or heavyweight thread
• 4" piece of same thread or twine
• A two-hole button (or a large one-hole bead with a smaller bead that a needle and thread can pass through)
• A scrap of decorative paper to glue onto outside cover (e.g., marbled paper, paste paper, wallpaper).
• Cork-back metal ruler or knitting needle for scoring lines
• Awls (or plastic-handled needle tool) for poking holes
• Straight darning or upholstery needles with eyes large enough to fit thread, and not much larger than width of needle. Stick them through yellow pieces of felt to help prevent them from getting lost.
• Scissors
• Bee's wax or thread waxer (check with sewing supply stores)
• Glue sticks (for adding decorative paper to covers)

Bookmaking Instructions

• Fold covers as directed by picture. The covers are 13¼" by 8 5/8" to accommodate standard sized 8½" by 11" text paper folded in half, with room for a fold-over cover flap.

• Fold 6 to 8 sheets of paper in half. Carefully match corner to corner and top to bottom before creasing them.

• Help kids use the binding materials: darning needles, awls for poking holes, pre-cut lengths of linen thread, and bee's wax to coat the thread (or use pre-waxed thread or twine). Use large paper clips to keep the pages and covers aligned when holes are poked. Demonstrate how to "jog up" the pages and snug them (centered) inside the cover, and then clip them together. Have kids poke a center hole through the spine and two more holes, each roughly an inch in from either end. "Guesstimate" where to put the holes.

• Show kids how to wax the pre-cut thread (32" long) by pressing as they pull it between their fingers and the wax. (Waxing the thread makes it easier to thread the needle, and also keeps the thread from fraying and the knots from coming undone.)
  
• Flatten one end of the thread using a thumbnail before threading the needle. Do not knot the thread!
  
• Sew the books with a 3-hole pamphlet stitch. (It is a traditional stitch for binding single-section pamphlets or books). Sew from the outside in, beginning at the center hole, and leaving at least 8" or 9" of extra thread (which will later wrap around button) outside the hole.
  
  Moving up and out one end, skip the center hole and come back in through the other end. Finally, bring the needle out through the center hole again (you should have a long enough thread to match the length of thread you left when you began sewing). After making sure that the two ends of the thread are on either side of the long stitch, tie them together in a double knot, and trim the ends to the same length (8" or 9").

• Sew on the buttons.

Adapted from an article by Susan Bonthron on the National Gardening Association's Kids Gardening Web site.