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8 Easy Upcycled Craft Projects for Kids
Reusing and recycling are common terms, but what about upcycling? Use one of these inventive recycled DIY ideas to transform your cardboard boxes and plastic water bottles into something new rather than throwing them in the recycling bin.
Easy Upcycled Crafts for Kids
Your children will exercise their creativity while honing their STEM and fine motor abilities. They will also learn first-hand the value of reducing trash. Use this time to talk about the environment and how recycling single-use goods can help preserve the environment.
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Upcycled Crayons
One of the simplest recycled craft projects that is simple enough for young children but entertaining for older kids is turning old crayons into new crayons. Peel any paper from the old, broken crayons you have collected. For the new crayons, you will require a form. While a muffin pan can be used, silicone moulds that are suitable for the oven work best and available in a variety of cute forms, including hearts, flowers, and even LEGO bricks.
The kids will adore this step! Have them crush or break the crayons into tiny bits, and then fill the forms with the fragmented parts. Use one colour at a time, mix and match colours to make crayons that are rainbow-colored, or both. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the wax is melted, in an oven preheated to 300°F. Prior taking remove the shapes, let them totally cool. If you’re having any problems, freezing the mould could be able to help.
Egg Carton Flowers
An empty egg carton may be divided into small cups, which can then be painted to create lovely flowers, like in this lovely yet incredibly easy craft from Meri Cherry.
T-Shirt Headbands
Using garments that don’t fit anymore, are discoloured, or are ripped is an excellent way to reuse clothing. For older kids, making T-shirt bracelets or headbands is a fun DIY project. Just cut an old t-shirt into broad fabric strips. Three strips should be tied to an elastic hair tie before being braided together. Make a large circle by joining the other end to the hair tie. Instead of making headbands, you may build bracelets out of shorter cloth pieces.
Water Bottle Bird Feeders
One of the simplest and most satisfying upcycling projects is this one. You’ll not only put an empty plastic bottle to good use, but you’ll also draw a lot of wildlife into your backyard. An empty plastic bottle’s side should have a huge hole cut into it about two inches up from the bottom. To make a hanger, wrap yarn around the top. Use anything you have on hand, like permanent markers, stickers, colourful tape, and other embellishments to let the youngsters have fun decorating the bottle’s outside.
Cardboard Instruments
You can turn almost any tiny cardboard box or container into a musical instrument. To create a temporary guitar, wrap rubber bands around an empty tissue box so that they cross the opening. Make a drum out of a container for muesli. To make a rainstick, fold the ends of a paper towel roll over and fill it with rice. Give the kids the materials and encourage them to come up with some original ideas, and the options are unlimited.
Toilet Paper Roll Racer
Make a race car out of an empty toilet paper tube. A tube, paint, scissors, markers, glue, and some construction paper are all you need. For simple instructions, see the PBS Kids video below.
Puzzle Piece Wreath
Do you have a puzzle that needs some pieces? Make an upcycled wreath out of it rather than throwing it away. You may either leave the parts as-is or have the youngsters paint the pieces in various colours depending on the puzzle picture. After that, join the pieces to form a circle or even a heart using a hot glue gun. As a hanger, attach some ribbon at the top. Another option is to glue the pieces together to form a rectangle and create a gorgeous photo frame.
Yogurt Cup Wind Chime
Make music in your backyard using those empty yoghurt cups. You will need an empty yoghurt cup, a hole puncher, yarn, beads, old screws, nuts, and bolts, as well as any small metal objects. Punch three or four holes along the top rim of the cup after cleaning it. Additionally, make a tiny hole at the bottom centre. Use paint or markers to personalise the cups’ outside with your children.
Attach the yarn using beads, screws, and bolts. To secure the objects, knot one end of the yarn, then thread the other end through a hole in the rim of the cup. Continue doing this until each hole has a beaded length of string strung from it. One final length of yarn should be inserted through the cup’s centre hole, and it should be knotted so that it can be used as a hanger.
Visit our collection of Earth Day Projects and Activities for more entertaining suggestions.
How have your children used their creativity to repurpose household items? Post any entertaining craft suggestions you have on our Local Anchor Facebook page.