I did this when my kids were small, the youngest is now 32. I did it for my older grandkids, and I am now doing it for the younger grandkids and greatgrandkids. I have saved the colored plastic lids off of various bottles, such as mayonnaise, peanut butter, etc. Lids have to be too big to fit in a young ones mouth. I have a couple metal ones but most are plastic.
I keep them in a drawstring bag in basket, I use as a toy box for when the kids visit. They are good to teach colors, to count, to stack like blocks, to pretend, kids favorite is to pretend we are at a restaurant and the lids are food. Put little one between two larger ones and you have a sandwich, etc. Their imagination can run wild. So much fun with no additional expense. The amount of enjoyment for all is endless.
Source: Just me and my kids.
By Knitter926 from Bloomington, IL
Editor's Note: As Knitter926 mentioned, make sure that the lids are too large to be swallowed by children under 3 years old.
Tips for reusing plastic lids. Post your ideas.
We serve a lot of coffee at our house and I have managed to put the plastic lids to great use. You can use them as little palettes for painting, great for kids and stencil paints, then just toss in the trash. You can use the clear ones as quilt templates. You can place them under your planters to catch water spills and protect your furniture from marks.
By LuAnn
I use the plastic lids from Cool Whip etc. They are a great size to hold the pot holder coasters I make. Use the lid to round off the corners of old or stained pot holders. Then cover the round pot holders with material matching your decor and stitch back and forth across the material spacing your stitches so that it looks quilted. They make great coasters especially in summer when your glass usually sweats.
Plastic Lids
Just using them in toss games you can come up with a dozen ways
I have used then under chair and sofa feet.
I''ve used then as frames for small cut out pictures
Play dishes or for Mud Pie Making
Soap or kitchen scrubby dish
Paint brush holder or stop dripping paint
Thumb tack holder
Bases for an in yard baseball game
Make funny badges for kids to wear
Glue or pin all natural nature art on to lid.
and many more. Just use your immagination.
I use the smaller sizes for separators of ground beef patties when I buy in bulk at a good sale. Spritz each side with nonstick cooing spray and you can stack premade patties and they come apart easily. I stack them in a large coffee can and pop t in the freezer. Same technique if you find a good sale on chicken breasts.
Tip: I use plastic lids to create card holders. Just fasten two together with a paper clasp in the middle. It is great to use in card games that require you to hold a lot of cards at once, such as Canasta.
- Dani
Use them to replace the metal lids on jelly jars, or any jar with metal lids. They come in all sizes. They don't rust.
I keep my coffee creamer in a 1/2 pint canning jar on the counter. A lid off the plastic creamer container fits it. Lots of sizes and uses.
By ELAYNE
The lids off mayo type jars can be made into pin cushions...just take a round piece of material large enough to fill with foam, or some other kind of stuffing, I have even used hair when I cut my kids hair to fill it....them form it in a round ball about the size of the jar lid......glue it in.....
I use them to make templates for quilts and for face painting.(I am a clown)
They are great if you are patching holes in the wall and just need to touch up the paint. The kids use them for their paint pallettes and they are great props for clay and play-do projects.
I use them for little job cutting boards in the kitchen.
I normally save every plastic bowl that comes my way - empty margarine tubs, takeout soup containers, sour cream bowls, you name it. Lids, too. But invariably, the lids last longer around here, so I end up with, say, six butter lids and only two butter bowls.
Margarine or butter container lids make great dry erase boards. You can use washable markers on them or dry erase markers on them.
Margarine or Cottage Cheese Lids for Hamburgers. I save plastic lids from margarine or cottage cheese or the same size lids, and when making up hamburger patties (using a tupperware pattie form). . .
If you recycle your Pringles cans, keep the lids. Most yogurts don't come with them anymore, and most of them can be used for food or crafts. However, without lids, they are great for plants starts but not much else.
"Upcycled" Pringles plastic lids make perfect coasters for the right sized glass or cup. You can use plastic coffee can lids for larger cups.
I like to reuse plastic lids as paint palettes, and even as crafting surfaces. By "crafting surfaces", I mean things like: resting/drying spot for newly painted small objects, or a "palette" for small amount of craft glue or Mod Podge, and so on. The lids are easy to clean.
Every once in a while, you lose a lid to something important. I once plugged my waterbed with a small lid from a Vicks Vaporub jar. It worked for 6 years.
I have started using the plastic tops from coffee cans for pet dishes. The animals love them because their food is very accessible, and I like them because they are very easy to wash.