B a r b a r a s h e r I l L u s t r a t I o n s b y r a L p h

D
I R E C T I O N S
One morning, especially if it’s a rainy, nothing-to-do, “I’m bored” day,
announce that it’s Paper Day and assign some floor space or a table for the
event. Bring out the box of paper goodies and let your child have at them.
He’ll probably come up with some ideas that are totally his own, or you
might suggest some of these:
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⽧ Tear out magazine pictures and paste them on a paper to make a 
collage.
⽧ Crumple up a small piece of paper and cover it with tape, making a
small ball. Take turns tossing the ball into the gift box for a game.
⽧ Make new greeting cards out of wrapping paper designs or old greet-
ing cards.
⽧ Make sculptures out of aluminum foil.
⽧ Write pretend letters and put them in envelopes to “mail” to each other.
⽧ Cut lots of types of paper up into teeny pieces to make confetti, then
write your child’s name on white paper in glue and pour the confetti
onto the glue.
W
H A T
’
S
B
E I N G
L
E A R N E D
Children are learning the magic of imagination and creativity and the way
it captures one’s attention. They are noticing aspects of old materials
and coming up with creative ways to make something different, which
encourages their global attentive skills. They are also learning one of those
important lifelong skills: how to entertain themselves with whatever is
around them.
Potato Puppets
Puppets are always a great way for children to stretch their imagination by
focusing on being someone else. We can inspire and excite their imagina-
tion by doing this variation on the classic toy, Mr. Potato Head. In this ver-
sion, you use a real potato!