Reduce, reuse and recycle. There are so many reasons why going green is important and the same goes for crafting. Besides being a good thing for the environment using recycled materials can also save some money. Of course you could buy expensive ready-to-go craft kits from the store, but you can also re-use items that would otherwise be thrown out for no cost.
Personally I love re-using materials by giving them another purpose and kids crafts are perfect for this. When my child is a little bored and wants to do a craft sometimes I will check the recycling bin first and we will come up with something we can make out of the items we have available. Sometimes we have empty aluminum cans, cardboard boxes from crackers or cereal boxes, milk jugs or newspapers.
Use your imagination and come up with some unique and creative crafts that will keep your child engaged. This can also teach children about recycling and one of the many ways we can reuse items instead of just throwing everything out. Here are a few ideas to get you started on creating some recycled crafts.
1.) Animals or Bugs out of Cans
Empty cans have a ton of possibilities for crafts including this popscicle stick vase featured in a previous post. Another idea is to make animals or bugs using cans and construction paper. Now my daughter is obsessed with skunks and spiders so we just had to make one of each!
Make sure you clean the can out thoroughly and that there are no sharp edges that little hands could be cut on. Then cut out some shapes of construction paper depending on the animal you want to make. For this project we did an elephant, lion and a skunk because by daughter is obsessed with those little stinkers. Cut a long strip to wrap around the can and then build on that with shapes to make the head, ears and arms. You can even use a nail and hammer to put a pipe-cleaner tail on your animal can. Just have fun with it!
2.) Recycled Newspaper Ads into Restaurant Menu
All of us probably have a few ads or coupon inserts sitting on our counters from the mail. After you look through them instead of throwing them out create a recycled restaurant menu with your child. Let them work on their scissor skills and cut out different pictures of food that they like or find interesting.
Then fold a separate piece of paper to use for the base of the menu. Let your child glue the food to the menu and decorate it any way they like. Come up with a fun name for the restaurant and use stickers, crayons or paint to customize it. When you are done you can use the menu to play restaurant and have some fun imaginative play with your kiddo.
3.) Egg Carton Bugs
For this craft you can cut out the egg 'cups' separately to make small individual bugs or cut out a line of them to make a caterpillar. Paint or glue some eyes on, use pipe-cleaners for antennas or legs and tape some paper wings on if you want.
4.) Toilet paper rolls
There are so many ways you can use empty toilet paper rolls for crafts that the list seems endless. Here are just a few projects you can try with your little one:
Butterfly: Start by flattening the roll. Then using construction paper, or a recycled cereal box for a thicker material, let your child cut out a set of wings and glue them to the back side of the flattened roll. Using markers draw a face and decorate the wings.
Make a Monster: Again start by flattening the roll so it is easier to work with. Draw a little face, fur or scales on the body creating a cute little monster. Then Glue some googlie eyes on and use some pipe-cleaners or popsicle sticks for arms to finish it off.
Binoculars: Using two rolls glue them together in the middle. Paint some designs on them like stripes or polka-dots or you can add some decor like stickers. Finish them off by tying a string to them by popping two holes in the bottom of each roll. Now your child is ready to go exploring with their own custom binoculars!
5.) Milk Carton Fairy House
For this project you can add a natural touch by collecting things from outside including twigs, leaves, rocks, pine cones or whatever you can find. Recycle an old milk carton as the base for the house. Using a box-cutter or scissors cut a door and windows into the sides. Then it's time to paint!
We used basic craft paint in orange and yellow. You might have to do a few coats to fully hide the text that's on the carton depending on the colors you pick (we used 2 coats). Let everything dry and then using a hot glue gun attach the sticks to the roof of the house.
Use any other materials your child wants to decorate their house including rocks, leaves or pine cones. Then your fairy house is ready to play with and enjoy!
Look in your recycling bin and see what materials you have to work with. Instead of just throwing everything out use your imagination and try to create something fun with your little ones using only the materials you have available. What were you able to make? Share a comment below and don't forget to subscribe!