I’m a big fan of “Real Simple Magazine” and one of the first features I always turn to is “New Uses For Old Things”. This month’s page highlights 5 new uses for buttons. It suggests using them as drawer accents, apron hooks and earring holders. Brilliant!
As I was staring at my sons’ HUGE collection of board books recently, I had my own “New Uses for Old Things” inspiration. Here are three fabulous ways to reuse your child’s well loved treasures. (And don’t worry, if you’ve already passed your board book collection on to another family, you can restock your supply at your local library or a neighborhood garage sale.)
- Read the pictures. Help your pre-reader boost his reading confidence by having him “read” wordless books. ”Hug” by Jez Alborough and “Goodnight Gorilla” by Peggy Rathmann are two of my favorites. Your child will love making up stories to go along with the illustrations he sees and the practice will teach him to use picture clues to figure out tricky words later.
- Read the words. Your new reader may feel overwhelmed when he sees many words on a page. Luckily, board books often include just a few – making them perfect stories for your child to read first. The familiar illustrations and positive memories of listening to you read will give your child the encouragement to tackle sounding out words on his own.
- Capture memories. Add one or two of your child’s favorite board books to his memory box. Thinking back on the time you spent snuggling and reading together will make the books a priceless family treasure.
What other ways could you reuse your child’s board books? Share your ideas in the comment section.
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