Hobbies And Interests
Tissue Paper Art
Ever wonder what to do with all the sheets of tissue paper your family receives at holidays and birthdays? Well, hopefully you didn't just toss it in the trash, because it can be reused by your kids to make beautiful works of art. Use recycled pieces of paper or cardboard as the "canvas," and then provide your kids with colorful pieces of used tissue paper and either glue sticks or washable liquid glue. Allow the children to be creative; perhaps they want to paint or draw a picture, and then fill in the details using the tissue paper. Allow the resulting pieces to dry, and then hang them around the house.
Multi-Colored Jumbo Crayons
Crayons tend to get dull fairly quickly, and unfortunately they can only be sharpened up to a certain point when they are no longer easy to color with. However, your kids should get a kick out of recycling the nubbins of crayons to create a jumbo, multi-colored super crayon. Have your kids gather up the little bits of old crayons, and ask them to peel away any paper labels that might remain. Place these bits into a muffin tin or metal mold, filling each compartment about halfway; put same or similar colors together. Place the metal container on a stove burner -- turned on very low! -- until the pieces get soft enough to stick to each other but not so soft they melt and flow together, and then transfer the pan to a sink with a shallow amount of cold water. When the crayons are hard, remove them from the pan and start using them.
Postcards from Reused Birthday Cards
Birthday cards are thoughtful and lovely to receive each year, but they typically end up stuffed in a drawer or tossed in the trash during spring cleaning. Make the most of your family's old birthday cards by having your kids create postcards using the front half of each card. Even if the image or message on the front of the card doesn't seem like it would make an appealing postcard, you can have your kids paint, draw or glue images over the existing one. Encourage your kids to send their creations out to family, friends or a new international pen pal.
CD Ornaments
Compact discs are becoming a thing of the past as digital technologies make it easier to download music than to purchase the latest CD release. Once you've added all the songs from your CDs to your digital music library, you might wonder what to do with the discs. Instead of chucking them in the trash, have your kids make shiny, futuristic ornaments to hang in the window and reflect the sun's rays. Use pieces of clear string to loop through the center and make the hanging apparatus, and then provide your kids with a variety of decorative materials to spruce up the discs.