How to make Reusable Sticker Books for Toddlers and the Best Buys

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Reusable sticker books are a major staple in our house. Over the years, we have collected ocean animals, farm animals, dinosaurs, various animal habitats, cars and transportation, dollhouses and even outer space stickers and sticker books. Reusable sticker books for toddlers and let’s be honest all ages are great gifts that can be utilized in a number of ways such as traveling on long road trips, indoor activities on rainy days, and more.

There are a lot of great options for reusable sticker books on the market but I also want to encourage you to make your own. Making your own reusable sticker book is so simple. Also, it’s a great way to recycle cardboard boxes.

Jump to DIY Reusable Sticker Book

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Reusable sticker books for toddlers provide a destination for those fun stickers.

If my kiddos don’t have a destination for their stickers, I will find them all over their clothes, my hardwood floors and furniture. I love stickers; but, I don’t always love the sticky residue that they leave behind. Thus, I love reusable sticker books.

We invested in quite a few of the Melissa & Doug reusable sticker books over the years. When my first child was 18 months old, we started her collection. Her barn sticker book and the animal habitat fold-out board has been well loved and is still being used almost one and half years later (pictured below). It’s beat up and the cardboard is broken in a couple of places but it still serves its purpose. Therefore, Melissa & Doug reusable sticker books for toddlers are the perfect sticker book that are of good quality and last a long time.

Here is a List of the Best Reusable Sticker Books for Toddlers and Kids:

1. On the Farm

A Farm puffy sticker play set that includes two fold-out scenes and 52 reusable stickers. This is a great choice for younger and older children.

2. Ocean Animals, Dinosaurs, and Safari

This Wild Adventures Play Set includes animals in their natural habitat designed on fold out boards. I love that it includes different scenes and have a double-sided glossy backdrop; so, it is safe for stickers to land anywhere on the page.

3. First Words Sticker Book

This reusable sticker book for toddlers is a great choice for an early educational sticker book to work on developing simple vocabulary. The stickers are all located towards the back of the book which could be confusing for toddlers without guidance. There are over 500 stickers with instructions to match the correct stickers to the correct spaces.

4. Trucks – 400 Reusable Stickers

This reusable sticker book has a ton of thick vinyl stickers that be used on a smooth surface like windows, notebooks, lunch boxes, and scrapbooks. Or, your DIY simple reusable sticker book for toddlers and kids. Eyelike offers a variety of themes such as ocean, puppies, kittens, space, horses, bugs, and more.

My girls have an indistinguishable love for stickers. I have only recommended what we have tried and used. But, there are other sticker books we have yet to try. We will keep you updated. If you have other recommendations, please leave a comment.

What age is good for sticker books?

Stickers are commonly recommended for ages 3 to 4 years old and up due to small stickers being a possible choking hazard. However, with supervision young children as little as 18 months old can enjoy stickers. Younger kids will benefit from fine motor practice as they develop their pincer grasp to assist with self-feeding. Older kids can use stickers to collect and decorate notebooks.

What skills does stickers lead to in kids?

• Cause and Effect
• Pincer Grasp
• Bilateral hand coordination
• Independent Play
• Spatial Awareness
• Language and Communication skills
• Open-ended Play

Cause and Effect

At a very young age, babies begin to learn the one action brings about another such as banging their spoon on the table makes a loud noise, hitting the top of the water in the bath tub splashes water in their face, clapping their hands gets their parents to smile, and pushing their cup off their high chair gets a fun reaction.

Stickers assist with helping a child develop the understanding of cause and effect. Children will place stickers on various surfaces to see what happens, stack them on top of each other, and stick them and peel them off over and over again. This is all part of normal development.

Pincer Grasp

The pincer grasp is when the the thumb and index finger come together to pinch or grasp an object. This is a vital fine motor skill because it promotes skills such as holding a pencil, self-feeding, and buttoning and zipping clothes.

Bilateral Hand Coordination

This is when both hands are being used at the same time. Not only is this good for developing coordination but also cognitive development because when using both hands together it requires both hemispheres of the brain to work. Manipulating stickers requires one hand to manipulate and grasp the sticker while the other hand stabilizes the sticker sheet. This act also requires shoulder and core stabilization.

Independent Play

This type of play is just as it is named, independent. Independent play is when kids play by themselves with parents nearby. Stickers are a great activity to encourage or facilitate independent play in children.

Spatial Awareness

The ability to organize the space that is around you such as your position in relation to other objects but also your awareness of numbers, letters, and shapes on a page. This skill is a foundational skill for all gross motor and fine motor skills. Spatial awareness is required for hand writing, navigating, self-feeding, dressing, and more. Playing and manipulating stickers on a fun scenes, requires a child to visually scan the page and be aware of other objects on the page.

Language and Communication Skills

Stickers can give you a way to verbally engage with your child. Pick stickers and themes that peak your child’s interest. Make animal noises for the different animal stickers. Create funny voices for the characters. Label the simple stickers. Talking together with your child adds words to his/her word bank.

Open-Ended Play

This type of play is when there is no expected end result, no limitations, and no hard fixed answer or method. This allows kids to use their imagination and be creative in how they use the tools and materials provided. Most of the Melissa & Doug reusable sticker books for toddlers and kids encourage open-ended play but the recommended Roger Priddy book is a close-ended toy because it promotes and instructs you to use the stickers in a certain way and there is a correct way to place the stickers.

When to use Reusable sticker books with toddlers and Kids?

• long road trip (one of the best travel toys)
• indoor activities on rainy days, appointments, or restaurants
• therapy and teaching sessions
• quiet time
• themed lessons and units
• just of fun and encouraging a child’s imagination

Tips for using stickers and reusable sticker books for toddlers

Stickers make a great way to provide a simple invitation to play for younger kids and even older kids. A simple invitation to play could include different stickers, different scenes, and a variety of themes. Provide stickers that are normal stickers or puffy and textured stickers with construction paper, poster board or a reusable sticker book.

Stickers can be used for storytelling. Get your child’s imagination going by having them create a story drawing different backgrounds and using pages of stickers to create a story. You might even write a book.

What if my kid is having trouble with stickers?

If your kid is having a hard time manipulating the stickers, place the stickers along the edge of a smooth surface; so, the stickers are easier to grasp. The larger the stickers, the easier it is to manipulate. Also, textured and puffy stickers provide increase sensory input to your child’s fingertips and this can assist in his/her ability to manipulate the sticker. Keep practicing and assist when needed. This is a skill.

I have used stickers so much in my practice. I need to write a separate post just for sticker activities. I’ll keep you posted and come back and link the post here when it’s finished. 🙂

How do you make a reusable sticker books for toddlers and kids?

Disclaimer: All activities on mudpieswithsprinkles.com require adult supervision. Some materials used in the crafts or play-based activities pose a choking hazard. Nobody knows your child better than you. Please modify all activities appropriately for your child.

DIY: How to make a Reusable Sticker Book for Toddlers and Kids

Materials:

• Recycled cardboard box cut into desired shape and size for sticker page (box cuter is needed for clean cut edges)
• Box cutter (please grown up task only)
• Contact paper to cover the cardboard cutout
• Paints or paper to design sticker page scene
• Scissors for cutting the contact paper

Step by Step Instructions for A Reusable sticker book and sticker pages

1. First, gather the supplies and materials. Decide the shape and size of the sticker pages for the book. Using a box cutter (grown-up task), cut the cardboard into the desired shape.
2. Second, paint the scene onto the cardboard or glue down scrapbook paper to create a scene. Wait for the scene to completely dry before moving to the next step.
3. Next, trim the contact paper to fit the cardboard sheet. Add approximately 1 inch to each side. Lay the contact paper on a smooth surface with adhesive side facing up. Place the cardboard onto the contact paper with the painted scenery touching the adhesive side of the contact paper. Trim the contact paper around the edges as needed.
4. Lastly, add colorful stickers and enjoy! Keep making more pages to complete a full book.

Binding method for reusable sticker books for toddlers and kids

Here are some options: staple one side of the edges together, hole punch and secure the pages with twine, paper fasteners, or binder rings. If you want a more professional looking sticker book, you could put contact paper over cardstock paper and have a place like Staples spiral bind the book together (the cost is around $12-14 for the binding).

We have chosen not to bind our sticker pages. My toddlers love to pick out different scenes and have the scenes all spread out on the table.

Thanks for Stopping By!

Finally, I want to thank you for stopping by and I hope you get an opportunity to make a reusable sticker book. It is so much fun and the possibilities are endless. Please say Hi in the comment section and let me know what you think.

– With Great Joy, Katie

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