A-Durable Gifts, Teaching Tools and Mementos: Fun Family Laminator Projects

Many people own them, but they don’t realize the uses for a laminator are practically endless. They make great decorations and gifts, and they’re also gifts in and of themselves. Here are just some of the projects you can do with friends, and family – even with your kids.

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Letters And Numbers Worksheets For Kids

Fall is “back to school” time, and if you have young ones, now is the time to get them into the habit of studying. Making letters and numbers worksheets will help them be better prepared for school. Even if school has already started, the worksheets will get a lot of use, and supplement what they’re learning in class.

You’ll need a lot of little supplies – see www.filmsourceinc.net for details. Mostly, you need small sheets that can be cut down to fit the outline of the letter or number. Alternatively, you can laminate many numbers and letters on one large sheet, and cut each one out.

Fall Chore Sheets

Fall chores. No one likes doing them. That’s why gamification is so important. And, there are few ways to gamify chores like scorecards – laminated ones at that.

Print up a nice-looking sheet full of daily chores. Laminate them. Now, when you need to put your kids to work, you whip out a dry erase marker and tell them that they get one star for each chore they complete, each day. You could make up any number of other rules, including prizes. The important thing is that you make it fun.

By making a scorecard or scoresheet, you introduce an element of risk and surprise. The risk is that the child has to complete all of the tasks on the sheet, and get the highest score to win. If they don’t, then they don’t get the “prize.”

And, the prize is the mystery (though you really should make it something that they value and would want).

If you have multiple children, you can make a sheet for each child or have them all on one sheet. Then, you let them compete against each other. At the end of the week or, maybe even at the end of the day, you compare sheets and see who wins.

Fall Recipe Booklets

Almost everyone loves fall cooking. It’s still warm enough for BBQs, and at the end of the day you can make a pie. Thanksgiving is a holiday that invents reasons for gorging yourself on food. So, why not make a recipe booklet or recipe ring?

Laminate the recipes with your kids and then start baking.

Fall-Themed Placemats

This is a fun project for kids because there’s so many ways to make a placemat. The simplest is to have your kids draw something and then laminate it. That becomes their placemat. They will absolutely love it. And, if you do a good job laminating, that mat will be around for a very long time.

Or, you could make seasonal placements, and let them rotate the mats around each season. Incorporate their most important values into the mats, let them tell a story, or just doodle.

Leaf Suncatchers

Suncatchers are really cool, and kids love them. Problem: they can be expensive to buy. Solution: they’re “free” if you use a laminator. Go collect some colorful leaves with your kids – this will be an activity in and of itself.

Then, spend some time laminating them and stringing them together. Hang them in the window and enjoy the homemade decor.

The light from the sun will shine through the leaves, casting an array of beautiful, natural, colors on your floor. Depending on when you gather up the leaves, you could end up with a rainbow.

Fall and Winter Ornaments

Ornaments. These things can get expensive. But, with a laminator, they’re much cheaper. Lamination can be applied to almost anything that’s flat. And, whatever you produce will be perfectly preserved. You and your kids could make a day, or even a weekend, of it.

Make fall ornaments, then, transition into making Christmas ornaments.

Bookmarks

Fall is a fun time to play outside but it gets cold at night. One of the coolest uses for your laminator is to make photo bookmarks for the kids so that, when the temperature does drop, they can spend time reading and have fun doing it.

Grab a few photos, or take some with your smartphone. Then, print them out on quality stock paper. Finally, do some cutouts and send them through the laminator. Your kids will love them. You could even make a few for yourself.

Kathy Stratton is a retired business executive who now has more time to devote to her passion for crafts and handmade gifts. She likes to share her ideas with others online and writes regularly for a number of niche websites.