TapTalesA storybook gift for grandparents, told in your child's voice
Grandparents already have the photos. What they don't have is the little voice telling them what happened. Make a short picture book of your photos with TapTales, let your child tell it with you, and send it as a video they can play whenever they like, or print it as a book. It takes an afternoon, and it's the gift they'll show everyone.
What you'll need
- An iPhone or iPad with TapTales.
- Six to twelve photos: a year, a visit, or just “things I like”.
- Your child, in a talkative mood. Two short sittings work better than one long one.
Photos on the tiles and saving as a video or book are part of TapTales Plus. Recording in your own voice is free for your first three stories.
1. Choose what it's about
Something the grandparents weren't there for works best: the first day of preschool, the new bike, the summer trip, the year in twelve photos. Or make it about them: “Things I love about Grandpa”, with a photo from each visit.
2. Make the pages
Tap + on the shelf, choose Tile by tile, set the number of tiles to the number of photos, and tap Start. Give it a title that sounds like a present: “For Nana, from Leo”. Then tap each tile's picture, tap Add a photo, and choose the photo for that page, in order.
3. Let your child tell it
Tap the microphone on a tile and let your child say what's in the photo, with you asking the questions: “Who's that? What happened next?” Tap stop when they're done. The words fill themselves in as they speak. Small voices get misheard, so tap the words afterwards and fix them by typing. The recording stays exactly as they said it.
- Let them say it their way. “And then the dog did a big sneeze” is the line Grandma will quote for years.
- Take turns. You can tell some tiles and they tell others. If a tile goes wrong, tap its microphone and say it again; the new take replaces the old one.
- End on a message. The last tile is the card: “Happy birthday Nana, we love you, come soon.”
4. Save it as a video or a book
Close the editor. On the shelf, press and hold the story and choose Save as a video or book. Then pick one:
- A video: every page, in the voices you recorded, with a title page and “The End”. Send it in Messages or by email, or AirDrop it. It plays on any phone, tablet or computer, including Android.
- A picture book: a PDF with a page for every tile, pictures and words, ready to print at home or at a print shop.
You can make both. Send the video on the day, and put the printed book in the post.
5. Or give them the real thing
If the grandparents have an iPhone or iPad, add them to your family in Settings → Family sharing. The story appears on their shelf, their grandchild's voice and all, and they can record the same pages back in theirs. Here's how.
Ideas
- The year in twelve photos, one a month, for the holidays. Or your family's holiday traditions.
- “What I did this summer”, for the grandparents who weren't there.
- A thank-you after a visit: the park, the pancakes, the goodbye at the door.
- “Things I love about Grandpa”, for his birthday.
- A new baby's first months, told by the big brother or sister.
- Mother's Day or Father's Day, for a grandparent who is someone's mum or dad too.
Questions
Do the grandparents need the app? Not for the video or the printed book. Only to have the story on their own shelf and record in it.
My child is too young to talk much. Tell it yourself, in their words: “This is me at the beach. I didn't like the sand.” Or record them saying one word per tile. Grandparents don't mind.
What size is the printed book? US Letter pages. Most printers scale it to A4 without trouble.
What does it cost? Recording three stories in your own voice is free. Photos on the tiles and saving as a video or book are part of TapTales Plus, $9.99 a month after a free week. You can cancel after you've made the gift, and the story stays on your shelf. See pricing.