Beautiful new things can be created from packaging material, household items and many things that are otherwise carelessly thrown into the trash. When doing recycling crafts, children learn that even waste can be transformed into something valuable and new in a particularly creative way. This is not only incredibly fun, but also raises children's environmental awareness. In this article we will give you some ideas for materials that are ideal as craft materials: old CDs, toilet paper rolls, plastic bags, wine and bottle caps, plastic and glass bottles, egg cartons, newspaper, paper plates and light bulbs.
Make flowers with PET bottles
Most plastic bottles end up in deposit machines and are recycled. But there are PET bottles without a deposit that are perfect for creative recycling crafts. The material is transparent or colorful, easy to process and available everywhere. One of the things kids can make out of plastic bottles is beautiful flowers. These PET flowers do not wilt andgive pleasure for a very long time!
If you want to make a whole bouquet of flowers, different flower sizes, colors and shapes are available. Noble and elegant flowers can be made from both the bottom and the top part of the plastic bottle.
First variant:
Cut the bottom off the plastic bottle with a cutter. The cutting edge runs slightly above the curvatures. Smaller children may still need your help with the incision. After cutting, the edges can be heated with a lighter. Once the flower has been shaped, it can be painted with acrylic or window paints.
Second variant:
Cut off the plastic bottle at the indentation. Make 5 or more evenly spaced cuts in the neck of the bottle. How many strips the bottle is divided into depends on how many petals you want the flower to have. Now bend the leaves from the bottle neck outwards and then cut them into the desired leaf shape with scissors. If you want to conceal the bottle neck and lid, you can stick a Styrofoam ball in the middle of the flower. If you want, you can also push a wooden or metal rod through the neck of the bottle into the ball so that the flower can be placed in a vase.
Vases made from glass bottles
Great vases can be made from glass bottles! Sometimes just a little color is enougha simple craft instruction. Precisely because this method is so simple, it invites you to experiment! Mixing colors is popular!
First, cleanly remove label residues and adhesive residue from the glass bottles. To do this, simply hold the bottles under hot water for a few seconds. You can help with nail polish remover.
You can use regular acrylic paints. They should be thick and have good coverage. Pour the desired color into the bottle to color it from the inside. If you want, you can also use a syringe. Now the bottle is slowly rotated to distribute the color evenly. Finally, place the bottle upside down to dry. A baking rack is particularly suitable for this.
Make pompoms with plastic bags
Are you fed up with so many plastic bags at home? Recycling fans came up with the brilliant idea that you can crochet with plastic bags. This creates particularly interesting shopping bags and baskets. But if you have somethingDo creative work with the little onesIf you want, use these plastic bags to create pretty pompom flowers - fantastic as a gift or decoration for a birthday!
First of all, the yarn from plastic bags should be prepared:
Strip the bag flat and cut off the handles and the bottom edge straight. Fold the bag twice lengthways and cut into 2 cm wide strips. Tie the resulting plastic loops together to form a thread.
Now let's move on to the pompoms. Decide how big you want your pompoms to be and then cut out a piece of cardboard that should be about the width you want. You can always make the pom poms smaller if they end up being bigger than necessary. Recommended dimensions for the cardboard: 15 cm, 10 cm and 5 cm.
Wrap the yarn around the cardboard about 20 times, combining different colors of your choice. Remove the yarn from the cardboard and tie a string around the middle. For the smaller pompoms you should do this beforehand. You can also put the string on the cardboard first and then wrap the yarn around it. Cut through the loops with scissors and trim the ends a little more so that the pompom looks nice and round. Complete!
With toilet rolls for carnival Make your own superhero cuffs
Beautiful things can be created from toilet rolls. Animals such as owls and Easter bunnies are very popular. But who would have thought that you could also make great accessories out of it? These superhero bracelets, for example, guarantee a lot of fun for the little ones!
Cut the toilet roll to size. Cut the two cardboard rolls open on the long side with scissors. If necessary, shorten the length of the roll so that it fits the child's arm well. Round off the corners with scissors. And now comes the fun part! The rolls are painted and decorated appropriately. To do this, you can use acrylic paints, self-adhesive films, glitter and rhinestones. Let the children experiment!
DIY with egg carton
Egg carton animalsyou can't just do it for Easter. One or more egg cartons create great ladybugs, spiders, caterpillars, bees and many, many more. These projects are anything but difficult and are great for younger children too! Have pipe cleaners, googly eyes and acrylic paints ready for painting and the children can get started!
This idea is also perfect for Easter – make Easter hens as egg cups! Cut a tip with an indentation out of an egg carton. Have your child paint the chicken with a brush and paint. Then let it dry briefly. Cut the diamond-shaped beak out of yellow construction paper, fold it in the middle and then glue it to the front. Use the knife to make a small cut in the top of the egg carton and insert the comb into it. The comb can be made of paper or red pipe cleaners. The ladybug can also be made in the same way.
Craft projects with newspaper
Paper mache is an interesting technique that requires just a little patience, but works well as a creative activity for children. Old comics, wrapping paper, magazines or newspapers can easily be used to make great papier-mâché works of art that can also serve a practical purpose. Like this paper mache bowl! There will definitely be something that you children can arrange in it. You can use a glass bowl or a balloon as a shaper. Oil the object with a little cooking oil so that it can be removed more easily afterwards.
Paper plates as craft materials
This is an easy craft project for children between the ages of 2 and 9 that you can enjoy doing together for Halloween. Cut out a circle in the center of the plate. You can use a large stencil for this. Then use scissors to drill into the center of the circle and cut it out. Punch out 12 – 14 evenly spaced holes around the inner circle.
To make the spider web, glue the end of a long piece of yarn to the back of the plate and tie the other end to a hair chamber. This helps small children with sewing. Have the children criss-cross the thread from one side to the other to create the spider web. When finished, tape the end of the thread back to the back of the plate. A spider is then fixed on the spider web.
Alte CDscan now be found in almost every house. Since they are made from the valuable material polycarbonate, they should not end up in the trash. You can do a lot with old CDs, for example make a beautiful cup coaster or a small clock. If you have a garden, hang a beautiful wind chime in the trees. As a bird deterrent or simply as a tree decoration, the CDs shake in the wind and give off reflections.
Sailboats made from wine corks and popsicle sticks
It's always exciting for children to find out that wine corks can float. They contain air and are therefore ideal for making fins and sailboats. A great toy for children in the summer or even for the bathtub!
Glue the corks together with your child using a hot glue gun. When all corks are holding well, place a toothpick on the middle cork as a mast. Triangles made of paper or a large, green leaf from the garden can serve as sails. Two ice cream sticks glued in parallel provide more stability.
Christmas tree decorations made of light bulbs
Whether as decoration, flower vase, terrarium or candle holder - old light bulbs have a surprising amount of potential! They also successfully replace traditional Christmas balls. This time they go on the Christmas tree instead of in the hazardous waste! All you need is paint, string and some glitter. But there are a lot of Christmas motifs that you can do with your children. Like this cute reindeer for example.
Tie a string around the light bulb socket. This is also practical when painting: hang up the light bulb, paint it with brown acrylic paint and let it dangle in the air. As soon as the base color is completely dry, glue a pompom on the front as a nose and two googly eyes on top. The antlers are bent from the pipe cleaner and glued on with hot glue.
Magnets made from bottle caps
The old bottle caps that are lying around everywhere can also be easily upcycled into something useful, such as bottle cap magnets. You can use your desired material to spice up the bottle caps. Paper, napkins, fabric or even photos are perfect!
Simply place the material on the table in front of you and trace the circumference of the crown cap with a pencil. Now cut out the circles you have drawn. Glue the circle into the bottle cap with glue. Finally, attach a magnetic plate to the back. And done!
