‘Freebies’ at Costco?
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Not very often do the words “costco” and “free” go in the same sentence – unless you’re talking about all their yummy samples! But if you have kiddos that like to color and be creative with large pieces of paper and cardboard, you’ll want to include this little “freebie” on your Costco shopping list.
Between each layer of toilet paper and paper towels, they have heavy paper and/or cardboard that is recycled when they’re uncovered. You’re more than welcome to have one or two and I usually pick up a piece each time we’re there and my daughter gets a 3’x4′ canvas to play with. She knows that when she’s done it goes in the recycling bin, but it’s fun while it lasts. I had a friend that used to get the cardboard sheets and let her kids make forts out of them on rainy days, making doors and coloring anywhere and anyway they wanted.
{You’ll want to first confirm this with your local store & make sure they are okay with you taking the paper/cardboard home.}
Thanks for the great frugal tip, Tara!
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I stopped at Sears the other day and asked if I could have a refrigerator box. They were happy to give me one and helped me carry it to my car. I took what I needed for my art project and spent the weekend spray painting the rest as a fort with my son. When I first asked, the lady assumed I had puppies coming soon and needed the box for that. :)
You can also often get the ends of rolls of newsprint from the newspaper for free or very cheap if you go on the day they print. You might want to call ahead on that, though.
The newspaper in Olympia sells the newsprint end of rolls for less than $4 apiece…and they still have plenty on them for kids to color and other uses. We use them at my school for posters, mind maps, and other activities.
I work at Costco and a coworkers grandson is having an architect bday party where they’ll be using the cardboard to build stuff. I thought that was a great idea!
Cool idea!