A Guest Post by By Lana Calloway
Surprisingly enough, an inkjet printer can be a godsend for parents on a rainy day or during inclement weather. These printers make use of liquid ink to form images and text on paper. But you can use your at-home printer to keep your kids busy and engaged in creative projects.
Coloring Pages
Home printers are perfect for printing out coloring pages from the Internet. All you need to do is download these freely available pages and print them out. You can check out your kids’ favorite television station online, and the official website of children’s movies and television programs to get free coloring pages to keep your kids busy and entertained.
Scrapbooking
This is another activity that can keep kids and adults busy for hours. You can easily print out different scrapbook materials from the convenience of your printer. You can check the websites of printer manufacturers, such as Epson, Hewlett Packard and Canon, for printable scrapbook paper and kits. Keep these handy, so that your kids can create different themes of scrapbook using the printer.
Origami
You can easily download free origami patterns from the Internet along with the directions. Kids will love to fold paper and make animals, birds and other creatures and objects. Unlike other origami, using colorful Epson ink will allow you to print in color and colorful designs so that your kids have colorful patterns to work with. The process of folding a multi-colored design and watching it take a unique shape can be very exciting for children. The art also helps to develop gross motor skills in younger children.
Cards
Instead of spending money on buying ready-made cards, use your Inkjet cartridges to print card patterns and layouts. You can easily download them for free on many websites dedicated to cards, or you can opt for low-cost patterns. If you like, you can even be creative and make your own images on your computer and then print them out. Make sure you used labeled cards while printing to preventing streaking and smearing. Get your kids to make cards for their
grandparents, cousins, friends and other loved ones. This can save you quite a bit during the holiday season, birthdays and anniversaries, and your kids will enjoy the DIY home printer project.
Building Three Dimensional Objects
You can use your printer to print out patterns to build 3-D objects, like buildings, party favors, toys, holiday decorations, boxes and vehicles. For this craft, you will need thick inkjet printer paper, which can be folded and made into three-dimensional objects.
Iron Ons
Get some iron on inkjet printer sheets that will let you print photographs, images, designs and text using the Epson inkjet cartridges. Once you have printed out the sheets, you can transfer the image, design or text onto T-shirts using a hot iron. Be sure to supervise your kids when they are near the iron. This craft may take a little bit of practice, so don’t let your kids get despondent if their first attempt fails.
