Old page-a-day calendars make great doodling paper

Dana's found a great way to squeeze some utility out of page-a-day calendars:

My toddler loves to color using any surface that she can find. I always need paper to hand to her while I'm trying to cook or clean up in the kitchen, but I hate to waste sheets of paper for her to scribble one line per sheet. Who doesn't have at least one of those page-a-day calendars that sits on the counter, stuck on the same page day after day? (We have two.) Each day I tear off a few pages from the calendar and she can color on the back. It's a great way to entertain her while I get things done, and it reuses paper.

I'll bet you can get those calendars on sale all over the place these days!

Comments

[Neena (NeenMachine)]

Excellent tip - and very "green" too! I always use the backs of paper that I plan to throw away. I will even cut it in half or quarters for phone messages and the like.

[Lerch]

What a great tip; that's one I've done myself! I would add to it that on the off chance that you have a child interested in Origami, typical page-a-day calendars are the perfect size for those projects. You can practice on old page-a-day, then move on to the expensive textured/colored origami paper when you're ready to do the "real" one.

Reusing is the most fun part of Reduce/Reuse/Recycle, imo ;)

[meg]

We like to take the thin cardboard boxes (like cereal and crackers)and cut it into small squares. The kids can color on the blank side- it is also great for practicing things like scissors and hole punches and staplers because it doesn't flop around like paper, and is still thin enough to cut through.

Older kids can go to town building things and then, when they are done, they go out to recycling.

[misterbeans]

In my parents' house growing up we always had one or two of those calendars laying around that were put to good use next to the phone. They make great message slips!

We never bought them for that purpose, they were usually old and forgotten about. Then instead of tossing out the old calendar we'd put it to good use!