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Crafts from Trash
A Fun Way to Recycle!
By Donna Stone
We know recycling is important, but how do we pass this on to our children who are too young to really understand? Show your child how you can turn items that would normally be thrown away into fun crafts. They'll have a ball helping you make the craft, and you'll be teaching a valuable lesson.
Busy little hands are sometimes too eager to turn pages in a favorite storybook. You can recycle those torn picture books into lace cards.
You will need:
Cereal boxes
Torn picture book with large, simple pictures
Glue
Scissors
Shoestring for lacing
Hole punch
Cut the cereal box front or back out. Select a page from an old picture book and glue it onto the cardboard. Smooth out any air bubbles. Allow plenty of time for the card to completely dry. After the card is dry, trim around the edges. Punch holes to outline pictures on the card, approximately 1 inch to 2 inches apart.
Help your child lace the shoestrings through the holes. Not only is this a fun activity for them to do, it will also help improve their motor skills!
Turn empty boxes into a play town for your little one!
You will need:
An assortment of small empty boxes, such as macaroni boxes, salt containers, milk cartons, etc.
Empty paper towel tube
Construction paper
Scissors
Tape
Plain white or brown paper
Crayons or markers
Cut pieces of paper to cover the boxes and tape in place. Draw on windows, doors and other features for your buildings. To make a traffic light, cut circles of red, yellow and green construction paper and glue to the paper towel tube.
