What to Get a Kid Who Loves Scrapbooking

Best for: printing their own photos for pages

The Fujifilm Instax Mini 12 solves the single biggest bottleneck in kids’ scrapbooking: getting a printed photo into their hands without borrowing an adult’s phone and waiting for someone else to hit print. It’s a genuine instant camera — point, shoot, and a credit-card-sized photo slides out in seconds, ready to trim, decorate, and glue straight into a layout. The automatic exposure adjusts for indoor and outdoor light on its own, so a kid doesn’t need to understand settings to get a usable shot, and the close-up selfie mode means they can photograph themselves and friends without an adult behind the camera. Because every photo comes out physical and permanent, it turns the whole scrapbooking process kid-led from the very first page — they’re not waiting on someone else’s camera roll or a shared printer, they’re generating their own raw material on demand.

• Prints a physical photo in seconds with no app, computer, or printer required — a kid can go from idea to page-ready photo entirely on their own
• Automatic exposure and a built-in selfie mode mean usable shots without understanding camera settings — genuinely simple enough for a first-time user aged 7 and up
• Turns photo-taking into an ongoing supply of scrapbook material — no more waiting for someone else’s phone to be free or a photo to be emailed over

This is the gift for the kid who keeps asking to borrow a phone camera — the Instax Mini 12 hands them their own instant photo supply and makes every future scrapbook page start with something they captured themselves.

Best for: a first-time scrapbooker

The We R Memory Keepers 12×12 Album Kit solves the problem that stops a lot of kids before they even start: having an album, but no pages, sleeves, or decorations to actually fill it with. This kit ships as a complete package — a sturdy ring-bound album, a stack of blank 12×12 page protectors, and a starter set of embellishments including stickers, corner mounts, and paper trim — so a kid can lay out their first page on the same afternoon the box arrives rather than waiting on a separate supply order. The ring-bound format means pages can be added, removed, and reordered as the collection grows, which matters for a kid who is still figuring out how they want to organize photos by trip, season, or friend group. Because everything from the album cover to the first embellishments is already included, it removes the most common reason a scrapbooking gift gets set aside unused: not having enough supplies on hand to actually begin.

• Complete kit — album, page protectors, and embellishments all included — removes the most common reason a scrapbook gift sits unused: nothing to fill it with yet
• Ring-bound 12×12 format allows pages to be added, removed, and reordered as a kid’s organizing style develops over time
• Low price point makes it an easy standalone gift or the perfect companion to a bigger-ticket item like a camera or cutting machine

This is perfect for the kid who has a shoebox of photos and stickers but nowhere to put them — the We R Memory Keepers kit gives them everything needed to start their first real album the same day.

Best for: cutting custom titles and shapes

The Cricut Joy is the gift that takes a kid from decorating pages with store-bought stickers to designing and cutting their own custom shapes, titles, and embellishments — a genuine step up in creative control for a kid who has outgrown basic supplies. The compact machine connects to a free app where a kid (with a little help getting started) can pick fonts, shapes, and pre-made designs, then cuts them cleanly from cardstock, vinyl, or specialty paper in a footprint small enough to sit permanently on a desk or shelf. Unlike full-size cutting machines built for advanced crafters, the Joy is deliberately simplified — fewer settings, a smaller learning curve, and a library of ready-made projects that don’t require design experience to use well. Once a kid can cut their own custom titles and shapes instead of relying on packaged stickers, the pages they produce start looking noticeably more personal and considered.

• Cuts custom titles, shapes, and decorations from cardstock and specialty paper — a real step up from pre-packaged stickers and die-cuts
• Compact footprint and a simplified app experience make it far more approachable for a young crafter than a full-size cutting machine
• Access to a library of ready-made designs means a kid can produce polished results immediately, without needing design skills to get started

This is the gift for the kid who has moved past stickers from a packet and wants pages that look like they designed them — the Cricut Joy gives them that control in a machine genuinely sized for a young crafter.

Best for: adding handwriting and doodles

Every scrapbook page eventually needs handwriting — captions, dates, little notes about what was happening in the photo — and the Paper Mate Flair 24-pack is the pen set that makes that part of the process fun instead of an afterthought. The felt tip design glides smoothly across cardstock and photo paper without snagging or bleeding through, and the 24-color range covers everything from bold primary colors for titles to softer shades for everyday journaling notes. Because the tips are medium-point felt rather than fine ballpoint, handwriting reads clearly even in a kid’s still-developing penmanship, and the range of colors means a page can be color-coded by person, season, or mood without needing to buy individual pens separately. It’s a small, inexpensive addition that solves a real gap: most starter scrapbook kits include stickers and paper but skimp on genuinely good pens.

• 24 vibrant, true-to-cap colors cover titles, journaling, and doodles without needing to buy pens separately
• Smooth felt-tip glide works cleanly on cardstock and photo paper without snagging, skipping, or bleeding through
• Genuinely useful low-cost add-on gift — pairs naturally with any album kit, camera, or cutting machine on this list

This is the gift for the kid whose pages are full of photos but light on handwriting — the Flair 24-pack makes captions and journaling something they actually want to add.

Best for: kids who run through stickers fast

The Simple Stories Jumbo Bundle solves the problem every active scrapbooker eventually runs into: running out of stickers and washi tape halfway through a project. This bundle packs a wide assortment of themed stickers — school, travel, everyday life, holidays — alongside a dozen-plus rolls of patterned washi tape, giving a kid enough variety to decorate pages across an entire year without repeating the same three designs. The washi tape in particular does double duty: it can border a photo, tape down a loose corner, or act as a decorative divider between sections of a page, all without damaging the paper underneath the way regular tape would. Because the designs span multiple themes rather than a single narrow one, it works for a kid documenting everything from birthday parties to everyday weekends, not just one specific occasion.

• Wide theme variety — school, travel, everyday life, holidays — means one bundle covers a full year of different scrapbook projects
• Washi tape removes cleanly without damaging photos or paper, unlike regular tape, and doubles as a decorative border or divider
• Large quantity per bundle means it lasts through dozens of pages rather than running out after one or two projects

This is perfect for the kid who fills pages fast and always seems to be down to their last few stickers — the Simple Stories bundle keeps them stocked for the long haul.

Best for: organizing a growing pile of supplies

The Case-it Storage Tote solves a problem parents notice long before kids do: scrapbooking supplies scatter fast, and a growing collection of stickers, pens, tape, and loose photos quickly turns into a drawer nobody can find anything in. This tote is purpose-built for craft supplies, with a rigid structure that protects a 12×12 album from bending in transit, plus zippered pockets and elastic loops sized for pens, tape rolls, and smaller embellishments. The carry handle and shoulder strap make it easy for a kid to bring their whole project along to a grandparent’s house or a car ride, without loose stickers and photos falling out along the way. It’s not the most exciting gift on this list, but it’s the one that keeps every other gift on this list organized, protected, and actually usable months down the line instead of buried under a bed.

• Rigid structure protects a 12×12 album from bending or crushing during storage or travel
• Zippered pockets and elastic loops keep pens, tape, and embellishments sorted instead of loose and scattered
• Carry handle and shoulder strap make it easy for a kid to bring their whole project along on trips or visits

This is the gift for the kid whose supplies are already spilling out of a shoebox — the Case-it tote gives every sticker, pen, and page a proper place to live.