Extra! Extra!

In the life I lived b.c. (before children), I used to get THE NEW YORK TIMES delivered. Daily. Even more amazing, I used to read it from cover to cover like most of the other good commuters on their way to work. Then I had kids. I barely had time to read the cereal box, much less the Metro section. Arts and Leisure? My art was limited to finger paint, and as any parent can tell you, "leisure" is one of those mythical words, like "unicorn" and "beauty sleep."

Out of habit, I kept having THE NEW YORK TIMES delivered. Unread, the stack of papers grew to skyscraper proportions, and I began to realize that I would soon be the largest local supplier for the recycling mills.

Intent on diminishing our TIMES tower, I enlisted my three children, Kyle, seven, Jake, five, and Samantha, three, to help me take newspaper to new dimensions--literally. We built huge structures. We fashioned hats. We cut and pasted and created. We discovered and extolled newspaper's many virtues: the amazing way it could be ripped, rolled or layered together to metamorphose into so many different things; the bargain-basement price; the fact that--unlike pompons, glue and glitter, which are inevitably in short supply--there was always more than enough newspaper lying around. And gradually I found that THE NEW YORK TIMES and parenthood are not mutually exclusive. On the likely chance that you, too, have newspaper stuffed into the recycling bin, here are some of our favorite newspaper inventions, from millinery to maracas. The best part of these crafts is that they each illustrate a different way of working with newsprint--which you and your family can then adapt into dozens of additional projects.

Do I miss reading the TIMES? Nah. I scan it while I rip strips for papier-mâché. I may not always know the latest news, but then again, anyone can peruse the front page. It takes someone with vision to turn it into a dragon hat.