I remember growing up, and celebrating Earth Day once a year. Now, I'm always thinking about ways to reduce, recycle and upcycle. There are three reasons why I think upcycled kid crafts are ideal for busy moms.
1) It's cheaper. I could spend so much money on really amazing craft supplies. But, sticking with the basics and supplementing with recycled materials can save a lot of money.
2) It's convenient. It's much easier to grab something from the recycle bin vs. dragging the kids to the craft store. I love going to the craft store alone, but with kids, it's a whole other story.
3) It's earth friendly. Obviously, it's better for the environment to make use of something we already have instead of buying new material. We are leaving this planet to our children, and I want to leave it the best it can be.
So, with summer approaching, I wanted to share some of my favorite upcycled and recycled crafts for kids. Here they are:
One thing we always have in our recycle bin is thin cardboard boxes and they seem to accumulate. My son came home from preschool one day with this really cute recycled robot craft. I have always been impressed with some of the art projects my son does at preschool. This one is really easy and I love the results.
I love these upcycled bright summer flowers. They almost look so good you would never know they were made with old plastic water bottles.
This is an easy one! Just take an empty cardboard toilet paper tube. Spread on some peanut butter. Cover it in bird seed. Easy as 1,2,3! You don't need any string because you just slip it on a branch and let the birds enjoy.
Did you ever think of upcycling a mustard bottle for a Bumble Bee Garden Stake? I didn't, but it's a great way to re-use those bright yellow bottles.
My kids love butterflies and these egg carton caterpillars that turn into butterflies teach kids about metamorphosis and upcycling at the same time. This simple craft easily shows kids how we can recycle and re-use items that would otherwise be thrown away (cardboard egg cartons and paper bags) and teaches a bit of science as well!
If you want to see more fun upcycling crafts and summer fun activities for kids, check out my Pinterest boards!
Follow Heather @ LocalFunforKids's board Summer Crafts & Activities for Kids on Pinterest.
Follow Heather @ LocalFunforKids's board Upcycling Ideas on Pinterest.