(Last Updated on December 17, 2020)
Heroic Halos of Helpfulness
My mom was right. Good things do come in small packages! If I remember correctly, she was referring to me, not office products, but I think the expression works here, too.
I never thought I’d have such strong feelings for tiny, donut-shaped stickers but I just love these little guys.
It’s so frustrating when a child puts their heart and soul into a detailed notebooking page only to have it torn out of their binder by a sibling. Or worse yet, on more than one occasion, my kids have dropped a binder rendering the holes of many pages useless all at once.
Never fear… hole reinforcement labels are here!!
These miracle bandages for mangled paper holes have salvaged an otherwise downward-spiraling morning on many occasions in our home. We’ve had equal success with Avery brand and generic labels so far. And with your choice of white, colored, or clear it seems there’s a reinforcement label to suit every taste.
Side Note: The only time we’ve had hole reinforcement labels fail us was on plastic page protectors. Perhaps some brands stick better on plastic than others, but I found that wrapping the torn area with a small piece of duct tape and re-punching the hole was a good alternative fix. Clear packing tape is less noticeable than duct tape, but we’ve found the duct tape holds up better over time.
Besides their main use, if you have extra labels to spare, they’re also fun for quick crafts and learning games:
- Use them under paper to make crayon rubbings in various patterns.
- Block out areas on a canvas or watercolor paper with the labels before adding paint. After the paint dries, peel off the stickers to expose the unpainted area underneath.
- Use them as manipulatives for PreK counting or addition games. Peeling and placing stickers is excellent fine motor practice for your littles.
- Represent gas, liquid and solid molecules to demonstrate the states of matter like shown here at The Inspired Classroom.
- Color white reinforcing labels (or buy pre-colored or patterned ones) and use them to decorate envelopes or make DIY polka dot wrapping paper.
Whether or not you ever use them for an art project, their original purpose alone is enough to get them a spot on my Top 5 Must-Have Homeschool Supplies list. Even one crisis averted is worth the modest price of these wonderful little hole reinforcers.
If you ever use binders with hole-punched pages in your homeschool, consider investing in these small-but-mighty circles of awesomeness.
Check out the first post in this series here and follow the links there to find out more about the other supplies that made the Top 5 Homeschool Supplies list!
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