Teaching your children how to get new use out of old objects can benefit them for the rest of their lives. That’s why crafts that use recycled materials like old lids, egg cartons, or milk jugs can be both fun and a meaningful life lesson.
These 32 recycled crafts for kids bring a new purpose to items you might otherwise throw away. Look through the list to find projects you can create using items you have around the house or in your recycling bin.
1. Need to put some extra mason jars to use? Try this galaxy in a jar craft.
2. Gather up old and broken crayons around the house to make melted crayon art.
3. Put together a mini banjo from old lids, then see if you can play any recognizable songs.
4. Give toilet paper rolls a new use with this binoculars craft.
5. This recycled craft turns an old egg carton into a tray for seed starters.
6. If you have an adult who’s able to supervise, try making flowers out of aluminum cans.
7. Repurpose t-shirts you no longer wear into stylish bracelets.
8. Turn tin cans into something beautiful: wind chimes.
9. If you have magazines that need to be recycled, try crafting them into a decorative bowl.
10. For a recycled craft that’s perfect for preschool children, try this DIY piggy bank and money counting craft that uses bottle caps.
11. Using cardboard and a few around-the-house items, make a mind-boggling marble maze.
12. Build some toilet paper roll cars, then try racing them around the house.
13. Make an art supply container from an old milk jug.
14. Turn old plastic bags into adorable hair rosettes.
15. If you have an old or damaged book, repurpose it into a book page wreath.
16. Transform an empty plastic bottle into a cup and ball game.
17. Collect pop-tabs and make them into a bracelet that’s sure to spark conversation.
18. Make this rattlesnake toy out of bottle caps.
19. Bring nature into your backyard using old bottles with this bug hotel craft.
20. Make some silly monsters from old plastic lids.
21. Teach your children how to weave using an old plastic bottle as the shaper.
22. If you have some old tires and are interested in a more intensive craft, try making tire seats.
23. This easy recycled craft turns bubble wrap into a colorful crocodile.
24. Make dress-up time even more fun with these egg carton masks.
25. Give junk mail a new life by turning them into paper beads.
26. Create DIY Shrinky Dinks using plastic that you would have otherwise thrown away.
27. All you need to make these cute owls are toilet paper rolls and a few other everyday items.
28. Turn old mailers and cardboard into a kite to fly on a windy day.
29. Create a recycled hanging planter for a creative way to grow plants indoors.
30. Craft old milk jugs into beautiful and unique stained glass butterflies.
31. Repurpose an old t-shirt by turning it into a tote bag.
32. Have some Easter eggs lying around from spring? Make them into toadstool decorations for your garden.
