THIS IS BIG NEWS PEOPLE!!!!Do you realize that for years now mothers have been throwing away one of the world's greatest toys without even realizing it? It is a common enough occurrence, kids use markers to draw a picture, or to draw on the wall, or their face, or their baby sister's face, and then leave the scene of the crime without putting the lid back on the marker. Following the usual routine a mother will follow behind them, sighing as she thinks about how much money is being thrown away each time they have to buy new markers because the "old" ones are now all dried out. Bending over to pick up the uncapped markers we think of little else, except the possible ab work out that all this bending over is giving us. We gather the now "useless" items and quickly toss them in the waste basket. STOP! They aren't completely useless. Go ahead and toss the dried up marker, that part is useless; but, whatever you do, don't toss that lid. With just a bit of imagination marker lids can be one of the greatest toys ever invented. Here are just some of the many uses for a small Ziploc bag full of old marker lids.
1. Use them to teach colors.
2. If you have lots of lids you can have kids sort them into piles of same color, size, or style.3. Kids can line them up in small legions of soldiers and have marker lid battles (small color pencils seem to make great swords, lances, and spears in this game)
4. If your little girl has the same imagination as Sweet Terror she can pretend they are barbies dancing, animals playing, birds flying, etc...
5. You can build tricky little towers with them.
6. And last, but certainly NOT least, you can use them as fake fingers.
The best part is that they are small. I can fill a little sandwich baggie with them and keep it in my diaper bag for times when I need the kids to be quietly entertained. Sure, they can be a choking hazard, but then they were just as much of a hazard when they were on the marker to begin with. So, now instead of counting markers as wasted money just think of it as buying marker lid toys that come with a bonus of disposable markers.
7 comments:
Hey! Great idea. And great photograph, too!!
Thanks. But, I must admit that the photos aren't mine. My computer STILL won't recognize my camera and DSSH's computer is still busted. All the photos I use I steal off the internet (I hope that isn't breaking some federal internet law or anything). So that super cute curly haired kid is not mine (shucks).
This is a great idea! I'm just about to go through the old markers. I'll be sure and save the caps. My 2yo will get a lot less frustrated with lids than when he's trying to make towers out of 11 markers and they keep breaking.
Wow, that changes my perspective on them. Especially since we dry markers out almost daily.
Fantastic ideas!
Marker caps and Trouble game pieces both make good finger tips! Love that!
As a preschool teacher, I have seen all uses. My favorite is the one depicted in the photo. We also glue them to cardboard to make cool 3-D sculptures! Add some glitter, and it's downright funky!
have you seen those new markers at walmart for toddlers that don't dry out!!!! I Want some!!
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