5 Fun, Free Recycling Make & Do’s For Kids

Is your recycling pile starting to look like the leaning tower of Pisa? Do you have more old newspapers and empty bottles than green recycling bags? Before you head to the dump to dispose of it all, why not use all of your handy recycled resources to try one (or all!) of our fun “Make & Do” projects for kids?

They don’t cost a penny and, although you’ll probably be looking at a gigantic clean-up operation once it’s all over, they’re brilliant fun, great for encouraging creativity and wonderful for teaching children the value of recycling and reusing!

1. Build a Cardboard House

If you’ve just had a birthday party or splurged in IKEA, you’ll probably have tonnes of cardboard boxes lying around. This is the perfect excuse to turn your youngsters into budding architects!

You’ll need sellotape, glue, colorful paper, pens and any fun extras you have lying around to decorate the new cardboard house. Ideally you’ll need one big box for the building and one big box for the roof, but who’s to say you’re not building a cardboard skyscraper or cardboard terrace?

Your idea of fun might be  few online bingo games, but your kids can even make old cardboard into an amazing afternoon. Let your kids’ imagination run wild and then let their favorite toys move in! (You might want to help with cutting out doors and windows though, for safety’s sake).

2. Make Paper Mache Animals

What could be more fun than creating your very own creature out of sticky, messy glue?! Use all of your left over newspaper, letters and magazines to make paper mache animals. You’ll need:

 

What could be more fun than creating your very own creature out of sticky, messy glue?! Use all of your left over newspaper, letters and magazines to make paper mache animals. You’ll need:

• Diluted PVA glue
• Paintbrushes
• Recycled paper (newspaper works just as well as tissue paper!)
• A base for your construction

Here’s a great tutorial for making paper mache chickens – ideal for Easter time!

3. Make Balloon Bowls

Another cool DIY, recycled paper mache project which makes great little bowls which are perfect for presents and for keeping bits and pieces safe! Simply blow up a balloon and then paper mache over one half to create a bowl. Once all the glue has dried, you can pop the balloon and decorate (acrylic paint works well).4

4. Make Vases

Clean, empty bottles and jars can be turned into pretty vases for flowers in no time. Acrylic paints can be used to decorate or you can splash out on glass paints if you want to do things properly. You can even use your recently acquired paper mache skills to give your new vase a completely new look. Then it’s time to head outside to pick a posy for your creation!

5. Design Crazy Outfits

If your youngster is a budding Vivienne Westwood, bring together all of your recycling junk along with some sellotape, old scarves (you can pick pretty ones up from charity shops for next to nothing), wool and anything else fun you might have lying around. Then spend the afternoon creating wild and wacky recycled outfits. You can even have a catwalk show afterwards!