Those are great ideas. Here is a Shape Book I made using coloring pages, shapes cut from felt, and the pokey side of velcro. I colored the pages, put them in page protectors, tied them together with yarn, and then put little squares of velcro where the shapes go. These pages look like they're made for something like this, but I'm sure you could use any old coloring book for the same general idea.
The felt shapes can be stored in the page protectors when not in use.