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Old magazines can be "recycled" to new learning tools this summer. With a stack of old magazines your child can practice visual, fine motor, phonic, reading and math skills. Here are a few ideas to get started.

• Have your child say their favorite color. Give him one or two magazines and let him cut out ten pictures that show the color. Glue the pictures to a paper for a purple (or blue, or green, or yellow, etc.) collage.
• Use the magazine pictures to help your child categorize. For example, find all the pictures of cars and circle them with a marker.
• Practice beginning letter sounds. Give your child a few magazines. Have her look for the pictures that start with letter "Bb," for example. Cut out six or seven pictures that begin with that letter, and paste them on a piece of construction paper. When the page is dry keep it in a large Ziploc bag. As your child completes all the letters in the alphabet, assemble the pages for her own Alphabet Book.
• Cut and use pictures to practice addition word problems. For example, an adult cuts out pictures of two glasses and three plates. Paste them in a row, leaving a space between the glasses and plates. Ask your child, "Two glasses plus three plates equal..." Let your child count the total to get the answer. Then you can write the number model underneath, 2+3=5.

These are great rainy day activities!