As the weather remains cold for these last few months, your kids may be getting a bit rammy. Here is a fun idea to help keep them entertained and keep your table cloth a little bit cleaner.
I would recommend doing this project with your kids as it will make it more enjoyable for them to be able to use something that they made themselves. Start by deciding the theme for the placemats. If your kids likes to read comics for instance use the funny pages, but if they like coloring or puzzles better use their favorite coloring book or puzzle book pages. (I will refer to newpaper comics from here on out but you can switch that out at your perogative)
Take two sheets of the funny pages from the newpaper and cut them out in symetrical rectagles to eachother. You don't want one to be wider than the other. For example, when you put them together you do not want to be able to see the back edge of the opposite page to be sticking out from behind.
Make sure the diameter and height of your pages do not exceed the height and width of your laminating paper. Glue the two sheets back to back. You may want to put a blank sheet of paper between the two so the images do not show through the opposite sides.
When the glue has dried, place the project between the laminating sheets and follow the directions that came with the sheets. They are quite simple, and for the most part anyone can do it. The kids may need a little bit of help lining up the edges however.
And your done. It is that simple. If you used coloring book pages, after your done the kids can use dry erase markers to color and recolor their favorite pictures. This is just a fun simple project that the younger kids will enjoy making and can enjoy using time after time. Have fun with it, and be creative on what you want to put inside.
By jackfrost87, eHow Member
