Sunday, May 1, 2011

Same Old Eggs, New Twist

Easter has come and gone and after a wonderful celebration with family and friends, I am left storing my baby chicks and tucking away my Easter books until next year.  But what about those stupid plastic eggs?


 As far as I know, you can't recycle them with your empty milk jugs and diaper boxes.  They're so cheap that it seems like a pain to store them when I can just buy 50 more for two bucks next year.  I always feel so guilty about things like that, though!  What's a mom to do when the party's over and there are a hundred egg halves kicking around underfoot, cluttering and cracking and irritating me to no end?

Well, you turn to one of my favorite blogs with the brightest ideas for all things parenting and fun.  You may remember Modern Parents, Messy Kids from my Easter garland debacle, and the site is full of more beautiful and brilliant ideas like that.  When I went MPMK on Monday, to my delight, I found yet another way to entertain and educate my kids, but this time, with an upcycling twist: 20 Activities for Plastic Easter Eggs!  And considering the fact that I feel like I have three thousand eggs at my disposal, I bet I could get through all twenty, no problem.

Well, here is my favorite idea which led to one wildly successful morning activity with Jax.  Upcycling (reusing my eggs for something even cooler) my plastic eggs into an alphabet game!  If you know Jax, you know that this sounded like heaven to him.

Materials:
plastic eggs
alphabet stickers, upper and lower case


Directions:
Take 26 plastic eggs and break them apart.  Put an upper case letter on the top half, and its corresponding lower case letter on the bottom half.


Break them up, scatter them on the ground, and have your preschooler match them up!




Instant educational fun!


Things To Consider:
How old is your preschooler?  How confident are they in matching games?  How large is his or her attention span?  Jax loves letters, but doesn't necessarily have the patience to dig through 52 egg halves for the upper case L.  I was glad I decided to keep my upper and lower case letters the same color, so that if he had a yellow "G," he could scan the other yellows for the lower case "g."  If he had to look through all the colors every time, he would have gotten frustrated too quickly.


Also, make sure your egg's lower case letter is facing up when the egg is connected. That way it's more clear to your kid that these two letters go together, big and small.


As you can see, I didn't have all the letters of the alphabet (I bought a new package and they miraculously disappeared) so I used what I had and wrote the rest in with Sharpie.  The Sharpie actually wiped off surprisingly easily, so be sure the ink is dry before you let your kids' grubby little hands get all over them.  Jax erased both the "z" and the "D."  He would hold the "z" in his hands and bring it close to his face and say, "Z, you're my favorite."  He hasn't let the little "z" out of his sight since this morning.  He even said it goodnight to it before nap.


Here's to reusing something you would normally throw away in a new way!  Even if you only use these once, it will be worth the ten minutes it took you to create this activity.  I'm going to store them away and have them be a go-to game on a rainy or sick day, or when I'm just out of ideas.  I do love having a little something colorful and cool in my back pocket!


This craft was featured on BlogHer on the Green page!  Exceptionally exciting!

To see where the hops where this craft has been linked, check out my "Links & Things" tab above!

42 comments:

Kandice Breinholt said...

this is fantastic!

Shala said...

That is a great idea. I am going to share that with my beastie. Love it.

XLMIC said...

Not only is that a super idea (that I will probably use !) but you accompany the story with some great pictures!

Steph at ModernParentsMessyKids.com said...

Thanks for your kind words about Modern Parents Messy Kids and for trying out the idea. I'm so glad Jax liked it and I agree with XLMIC - your pics are fantastic :).

I added you to our reader project pinterest page again here:

http://pinterest.com/modrentmessykid/reader-projects-inspired-by-mpmk/

my3littlebirds said...

What a fun idea! Thanks!

TexaGermaFinlaNadian said...

That is such a good idea!!! Too clever :)
I am really glad that you linked up to Storytellers Blog Hop this weekend. I hope you found some good new reads and that ya'll had a great weekend!

Unknown said...

what a great idea, wish I would have thought about that when my kids were younger.

faith ann raider said...

oh my goodness!!!!! What a great idea!! My kids love playing with easter eggs.

Michelle said...

That is such a great idea!
I found your blog through a blog hop and am now following you on GFC. I'd love it if you could stop by http://moneysavvymichelle.com and follow me back. Thanks and have a great week!

Shelley Fischer said...

Great idea Becky! Leave it to a teacher to think this one up!

aimee said...

Wow this is a really great idea!Your newest follower here from the weekend blog hop. Hope you could follow me back. Thanks! http://aimee-girltalk.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

What a clever way to recycle! If a couple of them get crushed between now and next Easter, so what: you can always get another cheap bag of them then!

Kelly @Indiana Inker said...

Great idea! Thanks for sharing! Stopping by and following from the Deals and Dishes Link Up Lounge. I've added your button to My Button Collection page.

Stop by, look around and say "hi".

Have a great week,

Kelly
www.CouponsCraftsandCauses.com
http://IndianaInker.blogspot.com

Sian said...

That is brilliant. I am so going to do that x

Unknown said...

brilliant! thanks for sharing.. (I have been *THIS* close to throwing them away for a while now!)
:)

Nice to meet ya!
Sylvia

Callie said...

Fantastic idea! And what perfect timing. I've been tripping over plastic eggs threatening to throw them away for awhile now. My girls love working with letters, so this will be perfect. Thanks for sharing (and thanks for stopping by the other day!)

Joyce said...

Wonderful idea!

http://joyceandnorm.wordpress.com

Hello I'm Lala! said...

Great idea!! Thanks.

Btw, I have just awarded you The Versatile Blogger Award. Hope you can stop by and accept it.
http://esmerlala30.blogspot.com/

Patricia said...

Very creative indeed. That could keep a little one busy for some time.
I am following you via MMM blog hop. Please follow Mamaw's blog.

http://itsabouttimemamaw.blogspot.com/

Jen @ EmbellishingLifeEveryday said...

Clever idea! Great use of those plastic eggs, too!
http://embellishinglifeeveryday.blogspot.com/

Ella Gene said...

That is a really great idea!!!

jen said...

Bu-rilliant!!!!

Perfect for my 2...he's learning numbers and letters.

Jill said...

Great idea to use up those eggs! Just perfect for kids!

Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
Hope you have a great week!
Jill @ Creating my way to Success
http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

annies home said...

perfect and fun matching game I totally love it when they can learn while having fun will be sharing this with my daughter for my grand-daughter come visit me at http://shopannies.blogspot.com

Amy said...

Found you through LINK UP LOUNGE. Very cute idea. I am still looking at the bag o' eggs wondering what I am going to do with them.

THANKS!

Jodie said...

What a fantastic idea, love this!

Warm Wishes,
Jodie

http://lovelaughteranddecor.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

Genius!! Love this idea!

Esther Asbury said...

What a great idea! Wish I'd have thought of it a couple years ago!

Kristen said...

This is such a fun and creative teaching tool! Thanks so much for sharing this!

Kristen
Turning a House into a Home

Tammy said...

Great idea, and I love "z, you're my favorite."

Elena Galli said...

WOW, this is a really great idea. My 4 y old boy will love it. thanks!

Ginger said...

Fantastic! Great idea...Thanks for linking up to Mad Skills Monday!

Deanna said...

TERRIFIC idea! I'm a teacher and I've done a million academic things with plastic eggs but for some reason have never thought of this. My daughter is almost 7, so you've sparked an idea to use these for math facts in a similar way. Thanks!
Deanna @ www.shadytreediary.blogspot.com

Michelle said...

I love this idea! So creative! Thanks for linking up at DIY Thrifty Thursday @ www.thrifty101.blogspot.com
~Michelle :)

Laura said...

Would I sound like a dork if I said, I may use this game to help study for the GRE? Obviously, I'll have some tough vocabulary words or complicated math. Obviously. ;)

Unknown said...

Fabulous idea! I'm totally using it! I love how cute he is with his little z egg too!

Carla

Darcy said...

Smarty Smarty! I love this idea!!!

Anonymous said...

LOVE this idea!! I am going to have to remember this one! Thanks so much for linking up to Handmade Tuesdays @ Ladybug Blessings! www.ladybug-blessings.com

Ginger said...

You have been featured at SSB! Check out the link below:

http://superstinkyboys.blogspot.com/2011/05/mad-skills-monday-55.html

Feel free to snag the I Was Featured button for your blog and I hope you'll visit again soon!
xoxo
Ginger
SSB

Cathy @ NurtureStore said...

This is such a fab idea - I'm so pleased you shared it with us at the Play Academy. And I've been meaning to say, I love your blog hearder picture: so cute!

Bella @ Bella before and after said...

Becky,

You did good girl. I know this was just a no brainer on your part, but clearly many of us, are like DUHHHH, just brilliant idea, he he. I want to try this out with math, and maybe even picture puzzles. Thanks so much for inspiring me with this.


I loved it so much I FEATURED you, I hope it puts a smile on your face.

Come grab a button girl, and display it proudly!

**Features from week #35** @ Bella Before and After

Thanks girl :)

Hugs,
Bella

nicolette {momnivores dilemma} said...

Grand idea for lil ones, Becky!

Thanks for linking to Creative Juice. Hope to see you back again this week...