Children – they throw tantrums, they get on your nerves and sometimes, you just wished they’d grow up. Until they do. 

Time is a slippery thing and it’s absolutely not on your side. One day, you might find yourself wishing that you’d collected more memories, recorded more of your kids’ milestones or taken more pictures. 

Good news is, it’s never too late to start! Whether it’s taking a quick shot of your kids playing or filming a family trip, there are so many different ways to capture these special moments. If you’re into videography or photography, check out this Singapore corporate videography company for more filming tips! 

Of course, capturing memories doesn’t always involve a camera. Read on to find out 5 different ways you can capture memories with your kids! 

1. Scrapbooking: Physical 

The perfect blend of pictures, writing and art, scrapbooks are one of the most creative ways to document your memories. 

It can be as simple as pasting photos onto pages of a book, like this: 

Or it could be more elaborate, with plenty of stickers and doodles such as this photo:

It’s entirely up to you, scrapbooking offers endless creative possibilities! You could also get your kids to decorate it with you to make it a fun family bonding experience. 

To make it even more personal, you can include meaningful trinkets like plane tickets from a family trip or the receipt for your kid’s favourite toy. You can even stamp your baby’s footprints and handprints on the scrapbook as a memento! 

Physical scrapbooking may be fun but it’s also time-consuming. If you’re going for more elaborate decorations, you might also need to purchase supplies like patterned paper, ribbons, stamps, stickers and stencils. What if there’s an easier and more convenient way of scrapbooking? 

2. Digital Scrapbooking 

Digital scrapbooking is the modern counterpart to physical scrapbooking. For an optimal experience, digital scrapbooking is usually done on a computer or tablet. It makes use of scanned images and digital decorations. Since there’s no paper involved, it’s also much more environmentally-friendly. 

The best part? You don’t have to clean up any messes! No spilled glue to wipe off, no need to deal with paper trimmings, no glitter to dust off. You get to save money and time, you don’t need to print your pictures and digital supplies are much cheaper. There’s also more room for experimentation and mistakes; you can simply remove any decorations you don’t like and resize photos to your liking. 

However, it lacks the hands-on experience you get with physical scrapbooking. Digital scrapbooking can feel flat in comparison to physical scrapbooking, which is a lot more tactile. For some, that strips away the enjoyment of scrapbooking so do take that into consideration. If you plan to do more sophisticated designs, you might also need to purchase software that can be quite pricey and some of them have a steeper learning curve than others. 

Some recommendations for scrapbooking websites and software are Canva, Photoshop: Elements and Photoshop. 

3. Yearly Slideshows 

That’s right, slideshows. They’re not just for business presentation decks, they’re also a great (sometimes funny) way to curate memories with your kids. 

If you’re going for something low maintenance, simply slap a picture onto a patterned slide. Otherwise, play around and have fun! You can include clips of your children or have their favourite songs playing in the background. You can also insert their favourite cartoon characters in the slideshow, which will most certainly be a great hit with your kids. 

It’s basically the family’s version of a yearly review (sorry, no bonus here). It’s incredibly fun to make and it’ll be well received, even with older children, After all, powerpoint nights were trending with teens during the height of COVID-19. 

A creative way to compile the year’s highlights, slideshows help you compile the memories your family has made along the way. 

4. Memory Boxes

Memory boxes contain keepsakes and trinkets from your kid’s childhood. The contents are entirely up to you to decide but its ultimate goal is to archive all the items that are associated with your kid’s milestones. 

It could literally be a part of them, like their baby teeth. It could be something sentimental, like a card they wrote for you or one of their drawings. Even clothing makes for great keepsakes, like the first uniform they had or their first pair of shoes. 

For your own reference, you can also include little notes for each item. When your children are older, the notes would also help them understand the importance and meaning behind these keepsakes. 

To safeguard them, use an appropriate storage container. Preferably, it should be acid-free so it can protect your keepsakes from sunlight, dust and moisture. Storing them in a dark and dry corner would also help to maintain the box’s condition. 

5. Upcycling their old things

Instead of throwing away your kid’s old items, why not upcycle them? Upcycling is turning items that were meant to be discarded and repurposing them for other uses. 

For example, turning scraps of your child’s old clothing into a patchwork quilt. Other less labour-intensive ways of upcycling your child’s belongings could be making a bag out of their old shirts. Or using buttons from their old toys and clothes as scrapbook decorations. 

Instead of discarding them, these old items are imbued with new meaning and given a new lease of life. Not only is this great for the environment, it also lets you make new memories from old items. Not all upcycling projects are complex but they do require quite a bit more time and effort as compared to the other ideas in this list. 

Ultimately, upcycling is a great show of love and affection – for your children and the earth. 

Still thinking about more ways to capture memories with your kids? 

You can also try:

• Framing their artworks 
• Imprinting their footprint and handprint as an artwork 
• Make a recipe book for their favourite dishes 
• Getting a custom photo book 
• Taking a themed photoshoot 

While you’re preserving these memories with your kids, don’t forget to make new ones! Have fun! 

My book is out. Get your copy here!