Make a "Play Library"

Here is my latest installment in a long line of " Homemade Children's gifts".  I had been thinking about how I was going to make one of these for a while now.  I like to make gifts for kids that help initiate pretend, and learning. I love making gifts for all the children in my life!

I wanted to make a special gift for my cousin's daughter Madison.  Madison is about 10 months older than my son, and Madison has donated MANY of her unused diapers to my son.  That has saved us quite a bit of money. I wanted to show Madison and her parents how much we appreciate them.

Here is a gift that will help Madison turn her book collection into a " at home" library.

How to make a " Play Library"

1) Make Library check out card envelopes I made these check out card holders by taking one out of a local library book, tracing it onto card stock,  and then taping it back in the book.  You don't have to do this, it turns out that you can find free templates online for these envelopes as well.

2) Make " Check out cards" I am not sure if libraries even use these anymore.  For several years now, I have received a  receipt when I check out library books.  This is a cute way to show your kids how the check out system was like in the " olden days".  I found many free printables by googling " Free library card printable".  There are several options to choose from when you do this.

3) Make Labels for your books.  Most libraries have their logo on each book that belongs to them.  I made Madison some labels for her to place on the books that belong to her library.

* If you have more than one child you might want to make your labels with your last name. Like . " This book belongs to the Smith Library"

4) No library is complete without library cards!  How else will you be able to check out books??  I looked at an image of a library card online and just made my own on card stock.

5) Date stamp an ink Every librarian needs a date stamp.  I purchased one on Amazon.com.  A date stamp just makes being a librarian fun!

6) Put all the library items into a box.  I chose a box that looks like a book.  

I am really happy this turned out well.  I am thinking that I might make something similar on a larger scale for all my nieces and nephews for Christmas.  They have almost 6 kids in their family.  I bet they have a few hundred books.

I can't wait to send this to Madison.  I bet Madison and her parents will have a great time putting this together.