Stickers are pretty much a crafting staple. No one kind is ever enough, and they come in handy with almost any project. Considering that many stickers are super cheap—anywhere from mere cents to a few bucks, and even free if you get them in the mail from various ads or magazines—and they’re always easy to find, they’re a great lifesaver when the going gets tough—even when you’re not feeling very crafty.

If you’re in a pinch for school, babysitting or with your own children, stickers can help. Here are some very easy, simple, and fun ways to use stickers in various crafts and activities.

Start scrapbooking. While younger children can’t do many of the crafty things associated with scrapbooking like cutting specific shapes or lettering, they can still get into the hobby with stickers. Help them glue a few favorite photos (you may want to use duplicates!) to a sheet of paper and decorate them with stickers. They can “copy” your borders and accents, and you can add their pretty work to a page in your own scrapbook—or start a new one solely for your child’s use.

Create a story. Remember in the old Highlights magazines where a few words would be replaced with actual images to help young readers along? Try creating a sticker story in which you use a cat sticker instead of the word “cat,” or a house sticker for the word “house.”

Play school. Let your child grade your papers and add stickers when you get an A!

Personalize their stuff. Kids love to post stickers on almost everything in sight. Compromise by allowing your child to add stickers to one object, such as a favorite chair, an old dresser drawer, or a special sticker book.

Make charts. Sticker charts are great for rewarding good behavior, potty training and chores.

Play post office. This is a great way to put junk mail, extra address labels and flag-shaped stickers to use! Make a quick mailbox out of a shoebox by adding a simple slit in the top, and let your child decorate it if you like.

Work on fine motor skills. Dot a paper with a marker, bingo card dotter or an ink pen—bigger sizes for smaller fingers—and have your child peel and stick stickers to each dot. Both removing the sticker from the sticker sheet as well as matching it up to the dot will help him refine those pincer skills!