http://www.care2.com/greenliving/beyond-paper-eco-friendly-crafts.html
Beyond Paper: Eco-Friendly Crafts
By Terri Hall-Jackson, contributing writer, Care 2
Sometimes I think kindergarten teachers should be arrested because of the mounds of paper that are sent home on a daily basis. The father of my child’s preschool buddy looked mortified at me when I said that, but I could wallpaper my entire home with the voluminous amounts of printables and doodles that enter our doorway Monday through Friday, September through June.
I was kidding about the kindergarten teachers, of course. I love, love, love and deeply respect them. And I love seeing my children express themselves artistically. But the extensive use of paper does drive me nuts.
When doing crafts at home, may I suggest going paperless? Or at least recycle paper by creating a bin of paper that is clean on one side for kids to draw, doodle and play games on. If you are interested in crafts that don’t require the use of clean sheets of paper, consider the following activities.
1. Make a mosaic out of scraps of broken tiles, pictures from old magazines, paper scraps, odd cards from board games that are no longer played with. Potential material options are limitless.
2. Instead of using paper, how about making your own recycled paper and holiday cards, using ingredients such as newspaper, junk mail, paper scraps and dried flowers?
3. Check out resourcefulschools.org to learn how to make a kite, woven placemats, book covers and more out of old paper bags.
4. Before dumping items into the trash or recycle containers at home, consider if there’s any potential artistic use for them. A milk container could become a bird feeder. Can you see that baby jar as a snow globe or a paperweight? For more ideas on turning trash into art, check out The Imagination Factory’s Trash Matcher.
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11 comments
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Kabin
Konteyner,Prefabrik
mega kabin
Konteyner
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cool ideas
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this is great for a mum with five kids between the ages of 10 and 11/2 years you can imagine the amount of paper waste
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Thanks for the wonderful Ideas. I love to craft w/ my 2 year old grand daughter and I am also studingto be an art teacher and use as much re green fun as I can in the future.
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Something that I learned this weekend: using magazine pages or old wrapping paper to make Danish woven heart baskets. Two benefits: re-using paper and colorful baskets. (see http://northpole.net/crafts/baskets.htm for instructions) Such baskets make nice 'packaging' for small presents, potpourri or dried flower arrangements.
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Thanks for the advice
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good thoughts we can all do more I know I can if i try. i use baby food jars for making candles and for storage of some items, as well as to cover a few very dear items from dust and dirt and breakage. i know there is so much more i could do.
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great advice and ideas!
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As a librarian serving children and teens, I'm always on the lookout for craft ideas, and my favorite crafts use "trash" supplies, both to help the environment and to stretch my budget! Thanks for the suggestions.
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Thanks for all the great advice and ideas!
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