Since villages typically no longer raise children, parents often are faced with the guilt of their babe not recognizing beloved relatives and friends during visits and holidays. I picked up a great, easy idea from my sister in law to work on face recognition: a family and friends photo book.

For babies, just load up an inexpensive album with photos given that your little one first will be fascinated by looking at the faces, then likely will rip the pages once he/she learns how to pull the photos out (an entertaining game in itself...). For toddlers, you have an instant activity together: engage their help in picking out the album at the store; when you get home, have them choose which photos go in which slots. Ask them to decorate the book with stickers. Toddlers love helping out and you’ll be amazed by how quickly they pick up the names of loved ones.

For older kids, or as your own personal project, create a keepsake book. A cute album that won’t break the bank is the Studio K Stripes Dots Album (regularly $19.99, currently on sale for $14.99 at Joann.com). Acid and lignin free, this album includes 20 top-loading page protectors with white inserts to hold 40 layouts.