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What Once Was Old Is New Again: 5 Reusing
Activities Your Children Will Love
by Leslie Grimmett
Here are five fun activities you can complete with your children to
bring life to some used, old items in your house.
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Recycle broken crayons to make fun coloring shapes.
Here's what you need:
Put crayons in a tin can and place the can in a
saucepan filled with water. Heat the saucepan on low heat to
melt the crayons. If you'd rather, you can melt the crayons in
paper cups in the microwave. Place cookie cutters on a sheet
of aluminum foil. Pour the melted wax into the cookie cutters.
Wait for the wax to set, then cool. Pop your crayon shapes out
and color.
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Use your empty cereal boxes to create a placemat.
Gather the following items:
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Empty cereal boxes
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Scissors
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Tape
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Glue
Cut 1/2 inch strips from the front panel of your
favorite cereal boxes. Lay half of the strips down side by
side and secure the tops with tape. Weave the remaining strips
through the taped pieces (alternating an over/under pattern).
Glue the ends of the strips together to keep your mat from pulling
apart. Then, use the mats or mealtime or to protect the table
during art projects.
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Save your empty egg carton and make a Mancala Game.
Here's what you'll need:
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An empty 1 dozen size egg carton -
2 empty tuna cans -
Paint and paintbrushes -
36 rocks, marbles, beans or beads (for playing
pieces)
Paint the egg carton and the outside of the tuna
cans and let dry. Paint designs on the egg carton and cans.
Once the paint is dry, play the game! Here's how:
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Place three playing pieces in each cup of the egg
carton. -
Each player will keep a tuna can to the right side
of the board as a "store" for playing pieces. -
Play begins with one player picking up all of the
pieces from any cup on his/her side of the carton. -
The player begins to place pieces in cups, moving
counter-clockwise, until the pieces run out. -
If the player runs into their own store, they
deposit the playing piece into it. If the player runs into
their opponent's store, they skip it. -
If the last piece dropped is in the player's store,
that player gets a free turn. -
If the last piece dropped is in an empty cup on the
players side, the player captures that piece and any pieces in the
cup directly opposite.
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Captured pieces must be placed in the players store. -
The game ends when all six cups on one side are
empty. -
The player that still has pieces in cups on their
side of the board when the game ends captures all those pieces. -
The player with the most pieces in their store wins
the game.
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Create a cardboard kazoo from a toilet paper tube.
You will need:
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An empty toilet paper tube
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Wax paper
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A rubber band
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Art supplies (e.g. paint and brushes, markers, crayons)
Decorate the toilet paper tube using your choice of
art supplies. Cut a 6 inch circle from the wax paper and place
it over one end of the toilet paper tube. Secure the wax paper
with a rubber band. Then, play the kazoo by making sounds into
the open end.
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Don't throw those old or outgrown socks away!
Make a Sock Puppet. Here's what you'll need:
First, put the sock on your child's hand and
determine where to place the puppet's features (i.e. eyes, mouth,
and hair). Then, let your child color or glue items onto the
sock to create the puppet. They may choose to use yarn for
hair, buttons for eyes, a red marker to color a mouth, etc.
Finally, use the finished product to put on a puppet show.
Next time you take a trip to the trash can, consider what you're
about to toss away. With a little creativity, you might be able to
take that old item and make it new again.
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