Reusing "throwaways" lets children see how recycling and conservation works.

Materials:

• assorted discarded items such as paper towel rolls, plastic milk caps, string, ribbon, used wrapping paper, empty boxes, greeting cards
• glue
• scissors

Directions:

You might begin this activity by talking with the children about ways they can reuse or recycle boxes, paper, and cardboard. What ideas do the children have?

You can suggest that each child create something from the discarded objects you've collected, such as:

• a collage by gluing objects onto heavy paper or cardboard;
• a sculpture by gluing together boxes and tubes, then decorating it with ribbon, string, or pieces of scrap paper;
• toy vehicles or blocks from empty paper milk cartons;
• using empty plastic milk cartons as bins for storing crayons or toys by cutting off the tops and covering the cut edges with masking tape.

When you talk with parents about this recycling project, you might ask for their help in collecting small, discarded things for future art or craft projects. Here's a list of things to encourage families to save:

• Baby food jars
• Bottle caps
• Boxes (cereal, pudding, cracker, etc.)
• Calendars
• Cardboard
• Cardboard tubes (paper towel, toilet paper)
• Catalogs
• Cotton
• Detergent bottles
• Egg cartons
• Empty spools of thread
• Fabric scraps
• Grocery bags
• Jar lids
• Magazines
• Margarine containers
• Newspaper
• Paper bags
• Paper clips
• Popsicle sticks
• Socks
• Sponges
• String
• Styrofoam or cardboard meat and vegetable trays
• Styrofoam packing material
• Tin, plastic, and cardboard containers of all shapes
• Used wrapping paper
• Wood scraps
• Yarn
• Yogurt containers

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