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When Astrobrights Papers asked me to come up with a way to keep kiddos learning this summer, I realized their beautiful colored paper would work perfectly to make a kit of brightly colored shapes that would easily fit in my purse.  So many of us travel during the summer -- having a quick and inexpensive kit for occupying kiddos is always handy!

Astrobrights Papers is a line of vibrant color paper.  They have a ton of different colors and they are all just so pretty.

To make your own set of beautiful shapes, download our free printable sheet of shapes and print them out on a variety of Astrobrights cardstock paper.  Their cardstock is very sturdy and the shapes have held up perfectly, even after weeks of play!  If your child is old enough to cut fairly accurately, having them help you cut out the shapes is great fine motor practice!

There are several ways to use the shapes.  You can do a shape and color hunt by setting out a variety of different shapes and colors.  Then you can prompt your child to find a certain shape/color -- here I've asked X to find the blue pentagon.

You can create lasting art by gluing the shapes down.  Here S (age 5) has created a scene - a man and his cat are playing out in their flower garden.

Aren't they pretty?

The whole family can get in on the fun, too.  Here are some phone shots of art our family's art as we waited for lunch when we were on vacation last week:

You can find even more inspiration and ideas to COLORIZE your life at COLORIZE.tumblr.com!