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Before bed, both of my kids get to choose a book to read along with their picture Bible. To get more variety, we have started my daughter on chapter books. But, my son is only two and when he decides on a book we will read it over and over again for weeks. One of the books we read over and over again was a picture book version of the This Old Man song. After several days of reading it, it hit me that it would be really funny to adapt it into a DIY Father’s Day book.
This craft was so much fun to make and I think it turned out really funny. I made a copy for my husband and both of our dads. While my kids were too young to do most of the work, they colored a card-like last page for the book.
I have made an effort in making this blog to keep my children’s names and faces out of it. For this craft, that is especially hard. But, I hope that you can still get the idea of what it looks like from my edited pictures.
How to Make a This Old Man DIY Father’s Day Book
Materials:
- This Old Man book with pictures by Claire Keay
- Glue stick
- Packing tape or Mod Podge
Printing the Pictures:
To start, I printed all the pictures I needed. This Old Man has 7 pages of big pictures and 1 page of 4 sets of small pictures. The first page matches the cover. So, to make one book, print 8 big and 4 small copies of a picture of the father you are making it for. Then, print 2 matching big copies, 6 unique big pictures, and 4 unique small pictures of your kids. I printed the big pictures at wallet size and the small pictures at contact sheet size. I cropped each picture to have just the head. For my husband I cycled through pictures of our three kids. For the grandpas, I used pictures of all their grandkids.
Getting the Kids Involved:
I wanted this DIY Father’s Day book to be from the kids, even though I did most of the work. So, I cut out a piece of paper the size of the back cover for my kids to make into a Father’s Day card. My 4 year old daughter is learning how to write letters, so I spelt out “Happy Father’s Day” for her to write. Then, I had all my kids “sign” the book. My daughter wrote her name and my 2 year old son scribbled. I wrote his name in parenthesis under his scribble and added my newborn’s name as well.
Helpful tip: When you try to get your child to write or draw something specific do they lose interest part way through? Try giving them a writing utensil they don’t get to use very often to make it feel more special and fun for them. If they still lose interest part way through, call it quits and try again later.
Putting Together the DIY Father’s Day Book:
Now that I had all my pictures, I glued them all into each book with a glue stick. I lined up a picture of my husband on each of the heads of the old men in the book. I tried to cover as much of the existing heads as possible while keeping the head at a reasonable angle. Then, I lined up a picture of one of my kids on the head of the kid on each page. Since I knew I was going to be taping them down, I didn’t worry about them being perfectly stuck yet.
I wanted these books to be able to be read with the kids featured in them without the pictures getting ripped out. So, I put packing tape over each picture. I thought about using Mod Podge, but I remembered it needed to dry for a long time in my DIY water reveal books.
Conclusion of Our This Old Man DIY Father’s Day Book
These books were really easy to make and I think they turned out really cute and fun. The kids really liked them and my 2 year old son kept wanting to turn the pages and point out who everyone was. I think that all the dads appreciated them. I thought that using This Old Man would be funny for Father’s Day, but any book or occasion would work too. What book did you change into a cute keepsake?
Looking for more Father’s Day ideas? Check out what we have made other years.