We’re a few weeks into the ‘stay at home’ rules now, so we thought we’d share some fun ideas for you to try with the children perhaps during a rainy weekend! Upcycling recyclable materials to create something new can be a fun, and cheap way to add some craft time to the house. It’s also a great way of teaching youngsters the value of recyclying items, while also having some fun of course!
Creative Art Work
This is a great way to encourage kids to be imaginative, and you can just let them loose too! You could use pretty much anything in the house to create some lovely works of art. Perhaps making a collage from different coloured sections of old magazines? If you’ve been doing some clearing out of the wardrobe, and items of clothing aren’t fit for the charity shops, how about some looming? Here’s a great link with how to make an easy loom at home, and then you can let the kids free on weaving strips of those old clothes to make some great art.
Do you go through egg boxes in the house? These are really great for upcycling projects, just Google away and you’ll find loads of ideas which will include painting! We particularly loed this little monster treat holders.
Papier Mache Masks
Everyone remembers doing papier mache at school don’t they? It’s an easy win for the house too – all you need is a balloon and some child friendly glue. We love the idea of masks, because you can really get the children involved in creating their own mask, plus this is a good way to use up any old newspapers or magazines lying around the house. Go a step further and create all sorts of shapes and items (my particular favourite as a child was making a hot air balloon!).
Rockets and Cars
Upcycle plenty of your “rubbish” to create rockets, cars, spaceships and more. Remember that advert of the little boy waiting for the Fairy Liquid to finish so he could create a spaceship? You could use things like old bottle tops for wheels, the tubes in kitchen rolls for bodies, old plastic buttons. Lots of ideas!