Recycled Crafts for Young Children
Everyone is aware of "being green" these days and making crafts with kids is a great way to recycle household items and have fun at the same time. Young children love to make things and you can encourage play while doing your part to keep the planet green. Start by saving items like baby food jars, coffee cans and milk jugs.
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Milk Jug Crafts
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Recycle milk jugs for crafts to make with your kids. Make a Milk Jug Ball Game with your child, then let them play away. Cut out the bottom of a cleaned plastic milk jug to form a scoop. Let young children glue on decorations--stickers, beads, string or whatever you have that will embellish it. Apply tape along the edge to avoid cuts. Attach a small ball to the bottom of the jug with a long string. This craft will not only keep them busy while making it, they will have hours of fun play afterward trying to catch the ball in the scoop. If you have two children, make two scoops and just have them toss the ball back and forth, catching it with the scoop.
Milk jugs are great bases for numerous kids crafts. Check out Danielle's Place website and the Family Fun Milk Jug Gallery (both listed below) for lots more craft ideas with milk jugs.
Coffee Can Crafts
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Make a drum out of a coffee can. Coffee can drums are easy to make and will keep young children occupied for long periods of play time. Start with an empty coffee can with a plastic lid. You can either paint the can or cover it with construction paper. The plastic lid will be the drum head. Decorate the drum by painting or coloring on various designs and gluing on pictures or stickers. Use wooden dowels or sticks as drum sticks. Other crafts to make with coffee cans include pencil holders, desk accessories, and banks.
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Egg Carton Crafts
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Save your egg cartons for rainy day crafts. Don't throw out those egg cartons. There are numerous crafts that you can make with them. Besides using them as starter gardens to teach kids about growing plants, they can be used to make all kinds of crazy critter, colorful flowers and holiday ornaments. With just some glue, googly eyes and a few things from around the house you can have an afternoon of rainy day fun.
Recycle Newspapers as Crafts
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Newspapers can create an afternoon play costume. Save those newspaper sections, too. There are lots of crafts that kids can make with just a few pieces of newspaper. Folding techniques can make fun hats. Then with a pair of scissors and some tape, fashion a newspaper costume, too. Cut strips and roll them to make beads.
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References
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