Our mailbox for the last month has mostly been catalogs from companies advertising items ranging from toys to clothes to snacks. Some get our attention and don't end up immediately in the trash. Some are actually still here, looked at occasionally by my grandson (because there's toys) or by me (clothes). As I looked at the stack of catalogs, I realized that they could be used for some activities before, during and after the holidays.
Depending on the age of the child in your life, catalogs and magazines are a valuable search tool. For pre-school children, send them on a hunt for colors: point out or cut out red things, blue things, etc. Learning to use scissors takes practice so encourage them to hold the scissors correctly and cut out pictures. What did they find? Glue stick them on a piece of paper. Name the items. Instead of categorizing by color, how about what they're used for? Toys here. Household here. Outdoors here. Label the items so your child sees and reads the word. Let's count: how many are on this paper, or this paper. Write the number. Are there more red things or blue things?
For school-age children, use the catalogs to encourage writing. Have them cut out ten pictures. Arrange them in front of them or on a piece of paper, left to right. Tell a story. Write a story. Share that story. Create a wish list. Why did they cut out an airplane? Have they ever travelled on one? Do they want to be a pilot when they grow up? I see a picture of a tropical island. Would you like to visit there? Live there? How would it be different there than here in the midwest? Would people speak our language? Eat the same foods? Dress differently?
Catalogs are a free source of learning, whether it's counting, patterning or just sparking imagination. Remember, there's no such thing as junk mail!
