13 Early Learning Games with Boxes & Wrapping Paper!
Do not rush putting the festive cards you received into the recycling bin – there are plenty of games for your children to play and develop their skills at the same time. And who knows, maybe soon they’ll build their own recycling bin and put the rubbish in the right place…well we can hope!
1. Jigsaw Puzzle
This game is quite good for little ones to practice a jigsaw puzzles
Cut the image on the card by 2 and encourage your baby to re-assemble the image. If you think your child is ready for a challenge then cut the card image by 4, 6 or even 10 pieces. And then restore the image together! An exciting way to play with the old cards.
2. Drawing together (adding funny elements)
To practice some drawing with your child use the festive cards. Simple way to recycle materials for indoor kids games. Even for young toddlers, this is a great chance for them to practice their fine motor skills with pens or paints. If your children are older ask them to match the colours on the cards, copy illustrations or add stars or hearts onto the lovely card materials! Or make it more entertaining with funny faces of all the family!
3. Making shapes & outlining
A great game quiet game is learning shapes and use the cards because of their high-density quality. Cut out the circle out of the card and let your child colour it.
Now take a spare piece of paper and show your child how to outline the circle, stamp, seal and produce more and more circles….colour them in and count them up! If you have some time Mum why not hole punch through the top of all the circles and string them together to make a nice festive wall hanging with kids sure to be happy with their famous art around the house!
4. Postman
A role-play game – Postman! Give your child a bag to put across their shoulders and a hat, then spread out their toys all over the house because they’ll all be waiting for the Christmas cards. Mark them with the name of the toy or just say to your child “this letter goes to the Teddy Bear who lives on the second shelf”. Then relax on the sofa mum and one by one your child will deliver all the cards to all the toys in their different homes. Or if you need an energy boost or quick shape-up grab 5 minutes of FitMama in your front room!
You can add a touch of the reading and writing skills development during this game. If your child has started reading, you can let them read the names of the toys with your help…. Or even write them down on the envelopes!
5. Storytelling with cards
This game develops children’s imagination. Pick up few festive cards and place the cards in a row in order of…imagination… “It was winter and it was snowing”, “The reindeer was waiting for Santa with a Snowman next to him” Magical! If your little one enjoys using their imagination, this indoor kids game may just keep them busy for a little while!
6. Where is O
If you child is not able to read yet take a chance to introduce the letters to him/her.
Show your child a letter “O” on one of the cards you’ve received this festive season and help your child find all the “O” or “S” letters on other cards. This is a great way for your early learners to understand the letters and prepare your children for reading.
Unless your children is old enough and can read the whole lot of festive greetings!
7. Cork printing
Pour a small amount of paint of different colours into small bowls and show your children how to leave a print on cards with a cork dipped into paints.
This can keep your child busy for quite a while and use the festive cards for their own creativity. Paint the sun, flowers, paths or caterpillars with corks. It is a wonderful idea for practicing cork painting before the kids make Christmas cards for next Christmas.
8. Craft making
If you’ve got plenty of festive cards then use the moments when the kids are indoors to re-cycle the cards in a beneficial way for all of you!
Let the children cut off elements of the card illustrations themselves if their interested in this activity, then take a big piece of paper and let them stick the elements onto it the way they want, using glue or just sellotape. The more elements the kids cut off the cars, the longer they’ll be engaged with this activity.
Easy, fun and so beneficial for developing your child’s fine motor skills. Ta-da!
9. Recycling Box
Teaching children responsible habits can be a lot of fun for them as it makes them feel more grown up, and hopefully you’ll get a helping hand with tidying up the house!
Take a medium sized box and cut a large hole at the top big enough to drop in papers and any other items to be recycled. Let your child paint or colour the box. They could use green like a standard recycling bin, but you can let them be as creative as they like! Mum, it’s also your chance to show off your art skills by helping your little one draw a recycling symbol on the box!
Show your child what kind of things can be recycled and let them drop them into the box. Once they know how to do it, you can let them go off and play more independently – hopefully cleaning the house as they go (at least we hope they don’t make any MORE mess!)
10. Awards
Show your child how to draw & paint the awards or medals and how to cut them out from paper. Apart from the fine motor skills development this game gives a good opportunity to for the children to talk and encourage the behaviour you want them to follow.
Give your child rewards for good behaviour, separate to any reward charts you already use, just pick out some recent good behaviour and reward them for being nice to family and friends. This will stick in their memory and encourage future good behaviour!
Actually this game can be quite useful throughout the year not only during the weeks before the Santa comes…
We hope you will find the time with the kids to try these 10 Activities to Do with Old Christmas Cards! Our children really enjoyed making the recycling box and making magical stories with the pictures!
