Make Your Own Trading Cards

What You Need:

• 4 pieces of heavy paper or cardstock
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Lead pencil
• Colored pencils or markers

What You Do:

1. Using your pencil and ruler, divide each piece of paper into thirds along the short edge, and into five segments along the long edge. You should have 15 card-sized rectangles on each paper.
2. Using your ruler, draw a slightly smaller rectangle within each rectangle that you've drawn out. This is so that there is a small bit of room around each card when it comes time to laminate and cut them out.
3. Brainstorm what kind of trading cards you want to design. Is it the cast of characters from a favorite book or series, such as Harry Potter? Is it your friends, family and teachers? Or perhaps a set of imaginary creatures with fun names? The sky's the limit!
4. Once you've decided on a theme, it's time to get drawing! Using colored pencils or markers, draw out what you want in each rectangle. Be sure to include a name on each. Don't forget the back of the cards, either: here you can put stats or details about the card or character.
5. When you've finished, Mom or Dad can take the card sheets to your local copy machine to be laminated. If you prefer, you can leave the cards unlaminated or use the clear plastic binder sheets with card pockets instead. This will ensure that they last for a long time.
6. Cut out your cards, and get ready to get trading!