If you've read any of my other crafty blog posts you know by now that I love making recycled crafts. I would much rather let my children explore different materials that we can find outside or in our recycling bin than buying a pre-made kit from the store.
It's always so interesting watching my kids think and try to find new uses for items that would otherwise be thrown out. It's also a great way to teach children's about the importance of recycling and reusing.
I did another post like this last year so if you want even more fun recycled craft ideas make sure you check that one out too! (5 Recycled Crafts for Kids- Part 1)
There are so many possibilities for what you can do with an empty cardboard box. For my daughter who is obsessed with Space, this one was an easy decision; she wanted a space ship!
We broke out the paint, scissors and construction paper to decorate it and found some cute little aliens to go for a ride.
On the inside we used pieces of white paper and drew buttons and windows. For some added fun we cut out large stars out of construction paper and tapes them to the walls in our home. Then my daughters had lots of fun doing some imaginative play and pretending they were in space.
View the full post here: DIY Spacesphip Craft
This one is so easy and fun for little hands. All you really need is a large piece of cardboard (cereal boxes work great), paint, newspaper, glue and some cotton balls.
First we took several pages of a newspaper and painted them different colors. While those dried, we cut the cardboard into a rainbow shape. If your child is able to use scissors have them cut the dried newspaper into little square pieces. Then have fun assembling it onto the rainbow. Afterwards we decided to glue the whole thing to a piece of blue construction paper but you can just leave the rainbow alone and hang it up.
View the full post here: Recycled Rainbow Craft
3) Toilet-Paper Roll Flowers
This fun 3-D collage uses several items you probably already have round your house. Create a cute garden of flowers using things like toilet paper rolls, cotton balls, popsicle sticks, Q-tips and construction paper.
For the flowers we flattened the toilet paper rolls and then cut slits in them. Then open up the roll and bend the flaps to create petals.
My girls had a lot of fun using random items to make the other flowers and plants. See what your little one can come up with.
4) Cardboard Swords and Shields
There are so many things you can do with cardboard, including making toys. Lately my daughters have really been obsessed with playing dress-up and doing some pretend play.
One day they wanted to pretend to be knights but we didn't have any props to use. So we went to the recycling bin where a large box was siting and decided to make some!
To make these extra sturdy we used a thick cardboard and doubled it up. Then we also made small handles out of leftover cardboard and attached them to the back of the shields so my girls could actually use them. Finish them off with some paint and your good to go!
This one is another easy way to make a simple toy that kids can use with their small play cars. Plus as an added bonus this one can be educational too!
I used an old clean cereal box and cut it to be even. Then I took some markers and made parking spaces and filled them with numbers and letters. I also like that since this is made out of a thin cereal box that I can easily fold it up when we're not using it.
My youngest has so much fun playing with the cars and saying the letters out loud. I will practice with her and ask to park cars in certain spots so it really works on her letter and number recognition.