Turn holiday cards into DIY toys

Boxes and bins filled with holiday decor are taped shut, and lids are snapped on tight. Up to the attic they go. Only select items remain on display, like the string of white indoor mini lights framing my kitchen windows that boost our moods through cold and gloomy wintry days.

A hodgepodge of December's Christmas cards spilling out of a cookie tin also are day brighteners. It's so much fun to browse through them again, especially with kids. Here are two ideas for enjoying the greetings in new ways when recycled into DIY fun. If some are photo cards, your kids will become more familiar with faces and places as they create.

PRESCHOOL SEWING CARDS

Make simple lacing cards for preschoolers by punching holes around the sides of a large card. Or, punch holes around dominant designs such as a pine tree. Then take a shoelace with a plastic-coated end, and show your child how to poke it in and out of the holes. As they work, talk about the images on the card, count them, identify colors.

Note: If you don't have a shoelace handy, wrap tape around one end of a long piece of yarn to form a tip and begin threading.

SCHOOL-AGE HOUSE OF CARDS

Create a construction toy for school-age kids and build structures of all shapes and sizes.

For a basic set of interlocking cards, cut 20 cards in equal sizes such as 4-inches by 7-inches.

Now you are ready to cut slits, either six or eight. For six slits, with a card upright in front of you, find the midpoint at the top. Make a dot to mark the spot, then use scissors to cut a 1/2-inch vertical slit. Measure down 1 inch from the top right corner. Make a dot and cut a 1/2-inch horizontal slit. Measure down 1 inch from the top left corner, mark and cut a horizontal slit. Now cut slits the same way at the midpoint of the bottom of the card and the two lower sides.

If you prefer eight slits on your cards, measure 1 inch in both directions from each corner and cut slits.

Start construction by sliding cards into each other at the slits in a perpendicular fashion to create a house, tower or imaginary structure.

Note: Vary construction possibilities by cutting some slits at angles, or cut cards into geometric shapes such as a circle, half moon or square. Cut slits on them and begin assembling your structures.

Donna Erickson's award-winning series "Donna's Day" is airing on public television nationwide. To find more of her creative family recipes and activities, visit donnasday.com and link to the new Donna's Day Facebook fan page. Her latest book is "Donna Erickson's Fabulous Funstuff for Families." (c) 2016 Donna Erickson. Distributed by King Features Synd.