Liam could spend the entire day zooming around with his little cars, so the other day I whipped up this racetrack from a piece of cardboard I had saved for just such an occasion! I'm no great artist - that's for darn sure, but I do love making stuff for my boys out of random stuff that I've saved from the garbage. I've always got things like egg cartons, empty paper rolls, old magazines, shoe boxes etc... around for whenever inspiration strikes.
Once I made a guitar for Drew out of a couple Ritz cracker boxes and some rubber bands. It was pretty cool if I do say so myself. I wish I had a picture of it but alas, it got trashed before I got around to getting out the camera.
We also make restaurant 'menus' using food photos from old magazines. We've had these for years and they still have great play value.
And don't forget the classic egg carton critters. Who hasn't made a few of those in their lifetime?
If you're looking for ideas, Kids Craft Weekly does a newsletter with easy kids crafts - a different theme weekly!
- And who wouldn't want an ice cream stand like this one?...
- Directions for this adorable Pocket Purse can be found on Martha Stewart Kids online.
It's made from pockets of old pants. What a great reuse idea!
These are great. I do the same thing. Currently old pieces of cardboard are recycled as shields with a pipecleaner handle. And...of course big boxes are everything from space ships to tents!
Posted by: MCMilker | March 02, 2007 at 08:31 PM
What great ideas!! I checked out your blog from Design Mom and was very inspired by all the new stuff. I left a comment about the clear cubes at IKEA...They are called the Lekman Box and can be found in the Bookcases and storage section under boxes... they are 10$. The website shows them just in clear, but I saw colors in the store... I just wanted to give you the follow up info.
I love that you are mindful of how you leave your mark on the earth. I have often wondered how I can be less consumer driven and reuse more but haven't gotten very much farther than thinking about it. I am going to browse the archives and find some ideas. One of my guest posts this week is going to be on this very topic so I will look forward to your input...
Posted by: bek | March 06, 2007 at 11:08 AM
HA HA HA dumb stuff to me
Posted by: Hallo | April 06, 2009 at 12:45 PM