I finally took the plunge and bought a laminator when the kiddos wouldn’t stop fighting over chairs at the table. Designating seats for them should help the bickering at the table .

I bought a Scotch duel setting thermal laminator from target for $17.95. It’s like the best $18 I’ve ever spent! The possibilities are endless! I honestly don’t know what I was so afraid of because it’s so incredibly easy to use. It’s flawless. If you have a toddler and you don’t have a laminator….. get one! You’re welcome!

Goal #1 make placemats! Somewhere along the line I decided I wanted them to be educational. I scoured Pinterest hoping to find a free printable but nothing suited my needs.

I wanted

• Name recognition
• Big and small letter
• Letter trace
• Letter hunt
• Something that started with the first letter of their name.
• A place to write their name without assistance

So I decided to make it myself and make it my own.

The laminate makes it easy to clean.

These are great conversation starters.

We can talk about what else starts with the first letter of our name and the other letters including the ones in the hunt.

We can trace our name with our finger or with dry erase markers

We can count the letters in our name

We can associate the sound of the letter with other words because of our name and the picture that also starts with the beginning letter of our name

We can learn to recognize all the letters in our name and on the whole mat

I’m excited and these should keep us busy for awhile before meal times.

Stay tuned lots more laminating coming your way!