I love to take "things" and make them into something else. I love to take items that would usually get thrown away and repurpose them into some sort of functional or craft project. What I really love is when I can do this with my students! They are always so surprised that they can take "trash" and make it into something useful or decorative or fun. I want to share a few examples of projects I've done with my students and get you to share your ideas too.
Here are a few examples:
-We took emplty toilet paper rolls and drew designs on them to look like fish or cut the ends to look like legs for an octopus. Then, we used a hole punch and put holes around one end of the rolls. Next, we tied one end of a piece of string to the end of a used straw we washed and a "sprung" paperclip to the other end of the string. Ta Dah! A fishing game! The kids came up with a variety of ways to play this game. Some of them put numbers on their "fish" and a player had to come up with an equation that would result in that number before the player was allowed to remove it from their hook after catching it. Others rolled dice or flipped cards then added, subtracted or multiplied the numbers before getting to "reel in" their catch.
-We took leftover paper scraps and made "emergency cups" that we could use to put water in if we needed a cup and one was not available. Now this is something the kids could do whenever they need to if they could find a scrap piece of paper.
-We took leftover plastic berry baskets, tied them with scraps of yarn underneath each other about 5-6 inches apart to create multitiered hanging organizers.
-We took empty 2 liter bottles, cut off the bottom, added small stones, soil, little plastic animals and planted seeds in them to create a recycled terrarium.
-Our school participates in the Coke Rewards program. This year, we are going to work on ways to recycle the plastic lids from the bottles. Any ideas?
Well, what recycling projects have you created? What other ideas do you have to recycle with kids? I can't wait to hear your ideas because I know they will be awesome! :)