Reborn Treasures
Recycle common household objects into these clever Earth Day crafts.
Cute Can Cubby
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Materials
• blank wooden plaque (available at craft stores)
• clean, empty soup or veggie cans
• eco-friendly house paint
• awl, ice pick, or hammer and nail
• screws and screwdriver
Paint the plaque and cans (make sure they’re free of sharp edges) in a variety of colors and designs. Allow to dry.
Make a hole in each can about one inch below the opening using the awl, pick, or hammer and nail.
Attach the cans to the plaque using the screws and holes you poked. Hang on the wall.
Funky Chunky Crayons
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Materials
• crayon scraps in a variety of colors
• muffin pan
Remove all crayon labels. Place a small handful of scraps in each cup of the pan.
Preheat oven to 350F and place pan inside for about 3 to 5 minutes, until crayon scraps are mostly liquid and a few chunks remain in the center (this prevents burning).
Remove from oven, cool to room temperature (25 minutes), and then place in freezer to cool completely for half an hour. Pop them out of the pan, and you’re ready to scribble again!
Easy Eco-dough
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Materials
• 2 cups flour
• 1⁄2 cup salt
• 1⁄2 cup water
• food coloring
• essential oils
Mix together flour, salt, and water in a large bowl until it forms a soft dough. Add more water as needed.
Divide dough and knead a different color into each portion. Scent each color the same way with a different essential oil like mint, orange, or lavender.
Store in clean, empty baby food jars.
Radical Robots
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Materials
• clean, empty juice or milk cartons and paper cups or cardboard bowls
• tape, colored paper, stickers
• tinfoil, bottle caps, cardboard tubes (from paper towel or toilet paper)
Cover the cartons with tinfoil and secure with tape.
Make arms of folded tinfoil, legs from cardboard tubes, and a rocket ship from a paper cup or bowl and colored paper flames. Attach using tape.
Decorate with stickers, bottle caps, ribbon, or anything else you can find lying around the kitchen.
Cardboard Dollhouse
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Materials
• cardboard box
• craft knife or scissors
• acrylic paint
• craft paper
• glue gun or duct tape
Cut two of the top flaps off of the box and form them into a peaked roof. Glue or tape in place.
Cut out one full side of the box as the opening, then cut out windows and a door or two.
Paint exterior (and interior, if you’d like), and decorate using craft paper shapes.
LESSON PLAN
