They may seem like recycling fodder to you, but grocery store inserts that come in the newspaper or mail are great fun for babies, who love to look at the bright pictures.

Appropriate for: Newborn to 6 months
Skills developed: Visual
What you'll need: Supermarket flyers

Sit with your baby in your lap and look through the pages, pointing out and naming the fruits, vegetables, and other foods pictured. (Be sure to hold the pages far enough away that your baby can't put them in his or her mouth.) Later, when your baby is napping, you can cut out some of the pictures and paste them on a big piece of posterboard for your baby to look at. Or glue them onto pieces of cardboard to make flash cards or onto construction paper pages to make a book.