Pop up books are great fun for kids of all ages, adding an extra dimension to their bedtime story. Making a pop up book is also an exciting way to help your child engage with storytelling or learning about the world around them. It’s also easier than you might think. Here, we talk you through how to enhance your children’s play and learning by making a tiger pop up book. 

You’ll need:

A4 construction paper or thin card

Scissors and glue

Pencils and crayons

Step 1: The pages

Take your first piece of construction paper or card and fold it in half horizontally. Cut two horizontal strips in the middle of the folded side. These should be about 5cm long and 2.5cm apart. Open the paper back up and gently pull the tab forward. Do this with as many sheets as you need to create your whole book. 

Step 2: The illustrations

On separate paper, draw and colour the pieces of your book that will pop up. You can copy pictures of tigers from other books or print them from the internet if you prefer. Make sure they fit the size of your book without sticking out past the edges of your pages. 

Step 3: The words

Add the text of your story to the pages you’ve created, in the space below the fold. This can be some facts about tigers or a story that you have made up. 

Step 4: The background

Above the fold of each page, draw the background. Do you want to add tiger habitats such as grasslands and forests? Or are you writing a story set in a house, like in The Tiger Who Came to Tea?  

Step 5: Assembly

When each of your pages has words and a background, and a pop up picture to add to it, you can cut out your pop up pictures. Carefully add some glue to the back of each illustration and stick it to the tab you cut into your page. It will need to go below the fold on the tab so that it sticks out properly - and remember not to stick it to the background, or it won’t pop!

Step 6: Stick your pages together

When the glue sticking your pictures to their tabs has dried, it’s time to stick the pages together. Glue the top outer half of the second page to the bottom outer half of the first page, taking care not to glue the tabs together. Then glue the top outer half of the third page to the bottom outer half of the second page, and so on until the book is complete. 

Step 7: The cover

Create a cover with a fresh piece of paper, drawing your front illustration and adding the title of the book. Then glue the inner sides of the cover to the first and last pages of the book.   

…And there you have it, your own tiger pop up book! 

If you’re inspired by The Tiger Who Came to Tea, don’t miss the theatre production, which is returning to the stage on 27 December 2024. One of the most popular family theatre shows of the decade, it’s a riot of song, dance and clumsy chaos that children aged three and up will love. Book your family theatre tickets today.