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Junk Mail Activities
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Mama Mia's
Motto:
"If you can't beat them, join them". Let's have fun using
junk mail as much as advertisers enjoy throwing them in our mailboxes. |
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Collect and Sort
For: |
Scrap Book /
Note Pad |
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- Most junk mail comes in A4 size with
only one side printed. Use blank side and make into a scrapbook
for your children to draw and do their calculation for arithmetic.
- Make them into note pads by folding page
into half lengthwise and half widthwise and half again till you get
the size you prefer before cutting them up with a blade. Put
them into a little box by your telephone for taking down notes or
contact numbers.
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Decoration Ideas |
- Some junk mail do provide decorative
ideas. It could be a catalogue from Ikea or brochure selling a
property development that have nice pictures of showrooms created.
- Some brochures selling furniture or
electrical items can give you an idea of what kind of stuff you would
like to buy for your home or buy as gifts for your friends and
relatives.
- Cut them out and paste them in your
scrap book.
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Work of
Art
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Children love to
cut and paste. Stop them destroying documents you want to
keep:
- Put all the colourful junk mail you have
received together.
- Get your children to draw shapes using
stencils you have bought for them.
- Let them cut shapes out
- Get them to paste it up like a collage
work on the advertisement side of another junk mail.
- Their artwork can be hanged up in their
rooms if they are proud of them.
- When they are bored with the work, they
can pass them to you to stock so that when you run out of gift paper,
you can stick them up into a large enough piece to wrap up your gifts.
- Now you do not have to give away the
ugly or chipped plates you received bundled with the product you
bought. Paste your children's artwork over the plate
surface. Varnish it and dry under sun. Should be great for
storing dry food stuff, such as, fruits, peanuts, etc.
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Paper Beads |
- Select colourful junk mail printed on
thicker paper. These are usually brochure advertising housing
development or advertisement in A5 size.
- Cut into strips of 2cm by 6 to 8cm in
length.
- Draw a line across from one point of the
strip to the other point diagonally opposite.
- Cut along the diagonal line to form 2 triangles
with right angles.
- Place a toothpick to the broad end side
of the triangle and roll it up till the pointed end.
- Use glue to stick pointed end to the
side of the bead formed. Beads can be use to decorate a plain
photo frame by gluing it to the frame.
- String the each bead on a raffia string,
one after another to form a beaded rope. Made as many of these
as you can to create a room separator or curtain for your
window.
- If you are using it as a curtain tie
something cute and heavy at the end to add load to the beaded ropes.
- Measure the width of the door or window
using a raffia string. Add about 15cm in length for each end for
tying up to the top of the door or window.
- Tie beaded ropes to the raffia string
side by side till it covered the full width of the door or window.
- Screw in a hook at both sides of the
door or window and tie beaded curtain across.
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Maids / Grandma
Helper |
- Brochures from supermarkets have lots of
pictures with name of sundry stuff, greens and seafood noted against
it.
- Use them as educational tool for your
foreign maids who have difficulty communicating with family members,
especially the old folks at home.
- Get your children to cut these pictures
out and stick them to junk mail cards. If notes are to be
written on the product, then glue a blank side of another junk mail to
the card before sticking picture of the product.
- Each time Grandma / Mom teach maid how
to prepare a food product, they can pass the card with the food
product on it for the maid to make notes in her own language.
- This way, each time Grandma / Mom wants
maid to cook that dish or to get things ready or prepare something,
all they have to do is to show her the card.
- This will prevent Grandma / Mom from
becoming upset with maid over communication breakdown or maid common
tendency to forget how to get things done.
- When stock run out, maid can also show
Grandma / Mum the card of the stuff to buy.
- Or use pictures from the junk mail to
create flash cards so that children can also learn a new words or in
languages the maid understands.
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Charity /
Recycling Bins |
- Alam Flora
will
pay you for paper you have collected for recycling. Decide
on the
charity organization you would like to support and create a
charity drive by getting your neighbours to pool all the junk mails
and newspaper they have collected to raise fund.
- Call
Alam Flora
to find out how much they will pay per kilo of paper collected. If the response
from your neighbour is poor and collection is low to
make any difference, then send collection to the
recycling
bin nearest your home or use fund collected to organise a
neighbourhood
gathering to promote projects that will help residents in your
area.
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