Ode to my laminator. . . .

Over a year ago, I purchased a cheap laminator.  I love it, I use it all the time-- I've probably gone through 500 laminating pouches/sheets.  How is that possible you ask?  Well. . . . . .


1.  I have four huge notebooks of preschool and kindergarten file folder games that my kids love playing with (and I use them with my joy school that I participate in).   See this post for some examples.  I love the site filefolderfun.com;  they continually add new file folder games that are awesome.  My SIL, Kristen, decided to spiral bind hers at office depot/office max, instead of using three-ringed binders. They look fantastic and I wish I would have thought of that before I made mine.

2.  Anytime I receive a new birthday or school calendar, I laminate it before hanging it on my fridge.  I laminate everything that will be on my fridge for more than a few days. 

3.  Whenever we get a new kids game, I laminate the instructions before the kids destroy them (If the instructions are too big, I shrink them down with my copier before laminating). Sometimes I laminate the cards too (if they are flimsy). 

4.  Mike's marble race toy, legos, stacking kiwis, etc. all come with instructions and ideas on how to build things.  I laminate them so that they actually last.

5.  I laminated the felt figures found here and here, for family home evening (now if I would actually have FHE more often).

6.  I scrolled through a few years worth of Children's Friend (found here) and printed off all of the coloring/activity pages.  There are dot-to-dots, mazes, find the hidden objects, coloring pages, find all the sheep, find the pictures that are the same, etc.  I laminated them and had them spiral bound at office depot.  I found dry-erase crayons at walmart, complete with a cloth to wipe down the pages.  I like the crayons better than the markers because they are washable and don't get on the clothes as easy, although they do still get on them.  Mike and Abby fight over who gets to play with this during church (which kind of defeats the purpose).  I made Abby's coloring page using a free downloadable program called paint.net (after you download the program, open the picture in paint.net program, click on "effects"  then "artistic" then "ink sketch", then play around with the brightness, etc.)  Abby loved coloring herself funny colors. 

 

7.  I finally decided to purchase some lds themed file folder games for church (after wanting them for a couple of years).  I ordered a CD at finchfamilygames.com.   Some are educational, some are Bible and Book of Mormon Stories trivia.  They are awesome.  Here are a few. 

 

8.  I great gift for grandparents are books.  Mike tells me his story, I type it on the computer, print on card stock, he draws and colors the pictures, laminate it, spiral binding, and an instant classic that will last a long time!  (Mike wanted to do a joke book as he was obsessed with jokes at the time).  For his dad's birthday, Mike wrote and illustrated a book with all of his favorite things about his dad. 

9.  I purchased some cheap ABC flashcards from the store and laminated them for Abby.  I punched a whole in the corner and used one of the little note card rings (like the one in the lds file folder games above) to keep them all together and in order.  She loved it (until she threw up all over it and I threw it away, even though I probably could have cleaned it off). 

10.  I know I have tons of other stuff, but I can't think of any more right now.  I may be updating this some more.  But I know that pinterest has opened up my eyes to so much more stuff to laminate.