Curriculum Recycling Project

My mom recently purchased this work book for my 2 year old.

The assignment on the pages we completed yesterday was to circle the items of a specific color from each line.  This photo was from the "blue" and "green" pages. 

The work didn't take long for her to complete...and as I was admiring the cute illustrations, I had an idea.  I could cut out the images and we could continue learning with them.

So, here is what I did:

First, I cut the pictures out. 

This was sort of a long process, because I wanted to cut as many images as I could, but the pages are two sided.  Some of the pictures were repeated on several pages, and I only needed one of each.  So after spending too much time organizing and arranging and evaluating where to cut, I finally managed to extract all the illustrations I wanted from the book. 

I happened to have several empty cereal boxes on hand. 

I used these to attach my paper illustrations to, in order to make them more durable and also because the paper was printed on both sides. I wanted a plain back, so that my kids would not be confused or distracted by the images on the reverse side.

So I cut along the folds of the boxes and then glued my pictures to the printed side of my box. 

First I applied the glue to the cut-out images, but I later found it easier to spread a thin layer of glue across the cereal box board, working in small sections at a time, and then carefully laying my pictures down. 

I found that I needed to smooth them out once or twice while the glue was still wet in order for them to adhere without bubbling.

Once my images were in place and the glue had dried, I covered the pictures with clear packing tape to protect the surface. 

Then I cut each picture out.

Ta-da!

I store them in a plain ziplock bag, which goes in a shoebox I also keep my daughter's shapes and ABC's in.  That way I can store her learning activities all together.

So far, we have sorted them by color...

...and by kind.  [Which picture doesn't belong in the group?  Why?]

I also want to use them to group beginning and ending sounds...

[pig...pants...pansy]

...and for my older child to practice spelling.  He can write each word in a notebook and then check his spelling on the back of each illustration.

But so far, they have received the most use during playtime!  *smile*