This week I wanted to highlight a few of the many, many things you can do with just one supply: contact paper!
I'm really enjoying picking one kind of supply and testing out several activities you can do with it! Nothing is worse than buying a whole roll/package of something and only using it once, while at the same time feeling like you have to keep buying the next new supply. And contact paper does not disappoint! It is such a versatile thing to have on hand when it comes to toddler activities!
Contact Paper Wall
This one is classic, and it has SO many uses!! Just cut a large piece of contact paper and attach it to the wall or your glass slider door with masking tape or painter's tape. You instantly have a new way of playing with toys and doing little educational lessons!
Babies love it because of the new sticky texture, so you can start using it once they know how to sit up on their own.
Free Play: The most basic use for this one! Give them paper, light plastic toys, pom poms (those only stick for a little bit, but they do stick!), light wood items like popsicle sticks, or felt. Let them create and play with the new texture!
Felt Play: I love that the Target felt playbooks from their dollar section can now come alive in an all new way! They're so cute stuck up there on the wall, and the felt is really easy to peel off and move around.
Educational Activities: SO many options!! Grab whatever you've already been using on the floor or on the table, and it becomes extra magical when it's stuck to the wall. You can do sorting games, counting games, letters, and numbers.
Preschool Lessons: This week, I used the contact paper wall in my preschool lesson, and it was amazing!! I drew a quick line for the waves on the non-sticky part before peeling off the paper. Then, our activity was all about spatial awareness: What goes above vs below? Which way is right vs left? Where is up vs down? Then he decorated his ocean scene thinking through what belongs above the water and what belongs under the water?
Nature Creations: This one was a lot of fun, especially with the warm weather and wanting some outdoor activities to complement our indoor time. We grabbed some baskets and wandered around our backyard collecting leaves and sticks. It was fun to realize just how many different types of leaves we could find in just our backyard! I could tell that Aaron was viewing his backyard space with all new eyes. Then, we took our collection inside and built our own tree on the contact paper! The sticks needed a little bit of tape to keep them up, especially the thicker sticks, but the leaves stuck really well!
Contact Paper Crafts
There are many, many craft ideas, but I'll at least share two here! This one was another fun way to bring nature indoors! We collected these flowers while on a walk, but they didn't have long enough stems to put into a vase. So I grabbed two squares of contact paper, and placed the flowers and yarn in between. I glued on the popsicle sticks and then put a heavy book on top over night. The next morning, we had gorgeous pressed flowers ready to hang up in house! In this picture, the flowers are starting to brown, but that's only after having it up for about 2 weeks. If you want to avoid that, you can try pressing the flowers first and then putting them in the contact paper once they're dried out.
These contact paper sun-catchers are really fun for the kids to make! Cut out a shape, outline it with some paper, but leave the sticky part facing out. Hand them to your kiddos with some glitter, sequins, and gems, and let them fill in the sticky part with as many decorations as they want!
Contact Paper Stickers - I really liked this one! Cut out any shape you want in contact paper, stick it to cardstock, and have your little one paint the whole page. Once the paint is dry, peel the stickers and have fun creating with them.
I used it this time to practice basic shapes. Olivia (18 months) placed her shapes randomly on the page, but Aaron used his shapes to creatively build a rocket ship!
Using Contact Paper to Laminate
This is such an awesome mom hack! I made these little seashell alphabet matching cards for Aaron, but I wanted them to last. Before cutting them out, I covered the paper with contact paper (front and back) and then cut them out. I got a perfect, smooth finish as if each was laminated like normal. I'm also liking that it has a matte finish instead of a glossy finish so the cards aren't as shiny.
I hope you go out and get yourself a roll of contact paper and start enjoying it! I can't wait to see how you use it!!
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