I love creating a memory book for each child in Adventurers. As a parent, I adore not having more random pieces of paper laying around the house, and I enjoy paging through the binder and remembering the cute things my kids did. As a director, I love getting text messages a few days after investiture after parents have opened the binder to discover a keepsake of photos and crafts to remind their family of all the fun we had in Adventurers. For more information on how I use these binders and to find other cover designs, check out this post.
Putting the Memory Book Together
The older kids don’t create as many crafts as the younger adventurers do, so a half-inch binder has been a good size for Eager Beavers to Helping Hands for my club. A one inch binder worked well for Little Lambs. A director in a nearby club uses folders to create her memory books. I prefer to use clear view binders so I can slip a cover in the front. You could also attach a cover on a non-view binder using the technique for the folders. Add a cover, page protectors, and possibly a few photo pages.
Take Home Folders
My older adventurers (Busy Bee – Helping Hands), have a folder they are to bring to each meeting along with their Bible. This folder contains the books of the Old Testament (or New – depending on the year), the reading award, devotion path (printed from the workbooks), and a club calendar. We use the books of the Bible page at the beginning of each meeting. On the occasion there is a paper to send home, it goes into the folder. Each pocket is labeled to make it especially obvious what everything is.
Putting the Folders Together
I use plastic folders with the metal prongs inside for three hole punched paper. The best time to buy these is during the Summer – they are really cheap during back-to-school sales! I print my cover image (see below) on full page sticker paper. To make it extra-durable, I give the full page stickers single-side lamination. Trim the pages, remove the sticker backing, and apply to the front of the folder. Add (optional) page protectors to the inside, and admire your work!
Covers for Your Memory Book
Since our conference has a yearly theme, I like to create covers to coordinate with the theme. I use Canva to create these (along with most of the printables I make for Adventurers). Our theme for this year is You are Mine.
The graphics have both English and Spanish options. And, since these are customizable, you can change all of the wording to any language your club needs.
Step 1
To create your own custom covers for the members of your club, click on the link below. The link will take you to Canva.
If you have an account, you probably know what to do from here! If you don’t, you’ll want to sign up for an account. There is a free version (not to be confused with the free trial). These printables are created to work with a free account (please let me know if they don’t!). *A note about Canva accounts: In addition to the free account, Canva also has free (pro) accounts for educators and non-profits. If you are a school teacher you qualify for a free educator account. I believe churches should qualify for a non-profits account – if you love using Canva for Adventurers, talk to your church about getting a non-profit account.
Step 2
Make a copy! You will not be able to make any changes to the original file you click on. Make a copy, and then start making it your own.
Step 3
Start making changes. Change the Adventurer’s name. Change the club name. Change, keep, or delete the class designation. These are all sitting here as placeholders to make things as easy as possible for you. Don’t like the font? Change it! The You are Mine covers have a logo on the page meant for the back cover. If you aren’t in the Oregon Conference, you’ll probably want to delete the logo. Perhaps you have a different Bible verse? Or no Bible verse? It’s editable, so change it to fit your needs.
Note: This year’s covers have a little special add-on graphic for Little Lambs to Sunbeams. At first glance, they probably all look the same, but they are slightly different. (Little Lambs has some lambs on hill in the background, Eager Beavers has a beaver, Busy Bees has a few bees flying over the flowers, and Sunbeams has a sun – the least noticeable addition if you aren’t looking for it..)
Step 4
Everything is customized for your club, and you are ready to print: Click Share (upper right corner), then click download. Under file type, choose PDF Standard. Select the pages you want. Click Download. Print your pdf in the manner you normally print a pdf. I usually print these on cardstock so I can use high print quality printing. If your printer does edge-to-edge printing, now is a great time to use it.
More of a visual learner? I have a video to walk you through the process.
Special Thanks to the Artists for Sharing their Work with Us
The You are Mine Covers were created from the You are Mine logos, which were created by the always inspiring Vanesa Franco, a fellow Area Coordinator in the Oregon Conference. The You are Mine Logos are available from the Oregon Conference. The Adventurer kids can be found at Traços de Esperança (Traces of Hope) along with a crew of friends. @urias_arts is a talented Adventist graphic designer from Brazil who makes wonderful graphics for our Adventurer and Pathfinder clubs. I adore his work and love using his characters in many of my projects for Adventurers and Pathfinders.
Canva Link
You Are Mine Covers in English and in Spanish
If you use this file, could you leave a comment and let me know how it went? Hearing from clubs is always so inspiring, it makes me want to create more things to share!