Kids these days may prefer to play with their computers, PlayStations, Xboxes or Nintendo Wiis. Yes, even five-year-olds these days know how to use those gadgets, and many of them actually do. However, a creative parent would be able to divert the attention of their little ones with the use of some paper and their trusty inkjet printer.



The trick is to create toys and kids? crafts with your inkjet printer. Here are a few ideas that you can use.

Jigsaw puzzles. You can download software that can create a jigsaw pattern on any picture. Use this on some of your child's favorite pictures and print them on matte paper using your inkjet printer. Afterwards, you glue this pattern onto a piece of cardboard then cut it up to come up with the jigsaw puzzle pieces.

Coloring sheets. Some parents may think of coloring books as a bit old-fashioned, but they are still a great way of teaching children about colors, shapes and space. Your own kids will no doubt enjoy them. But you do not have to buy coloring books; you can just create coloring sheets using your own inkjet printer. You can download coloring patterns from the Internet, or make your own if you are handy with photo-editing software. Once you have printed out a bunch, hand them over to your kid along with a box of crayons and your child will be entertained for a whole afternoon.

Pretend food. If you are into baking customized pastries and cakes and if you have an inkjet printer that is dedicated to the creation of edible printouts, you can create pretend food for your kids. It does not even have to be pretend food at all. You can cook up your very own toffee or chocolate bar and wrap it up with your special edible inks. You can even use it to make a marshmallow wrap.

Scrapbooking. It is never too early to start scrapbooking, and you can teach your child how to make one using your inkjet printer. Maybe instead of using actual photos, you can print family photos on your inkjet printer. And then, you can give these printouts to your kids, along with materials used for scrapbooking that they will not choke on or injure themselves with, such as cardboard, colored paper and ribbons, and let them have a go at their own scrapbooking project.

?Rubber stamps?. Kids love playing with rubber stamps. You can make your very own unique ?rubber stamp? by printing a pattern or a figure that you want on glossy or smooth paper using your inkjet printer. Once the paper is out of your inkjet printer, you can press the printed surface of this glossy paper on a dry and absorbent paper, and then you would have an imprint. While this may not be practical for daily play, it could be a wonderful way of adorning notebooks and scrapbooks.

There are many ways that you can entertain your children using an inkjet printer. You just have to be creative at finding these ways.