Cape Town - In the wake of World Environment Day on June 5, we look at how children continue its spirit through creative crafts.
Recycling is a process of taking materials ready to be thrown away and converting (changing) them into reusable materials including paper, plastic, glass, and metal.
Judy Macgregor of the blog Fun Mamma SA said that this year they had been very focused on impact on the environment and how one small household can do lots of small things “to lessen their carbon footprints”.
Macgregor said that after a discussion about recycling and decomposable materials, they had made a few seed starters to transplant cacti that she wants to plant into bigger pots.
First idea from Fun Mama is for kids to make toilet roll seed starters with items they can find right there in your home. For this gardening project they will a need toilet paper roll, scissors, potting soil and seeds.
“We try to spend 1 000 hours outside each year (if not more), and many of our learning and craft activities are centred on nature as our inspiration,” said Macgregor.
Here is how to make your own Leaf Imprints
Materials
Paper
Crayons
Leaves
Method
Start your activity by going on a leaf-collecting exploration .
Step Two
Begin to place the leaves on a flat surface with the paper over them. Any crayon or pencil will do to create the imprint.
These make wonderful wrapping paper, cards and framed print gifts.
CleanRiverRecycling Solutions have also shared ideas kids can make using recycling material.
Kids can creating their own underwater paradise full of colourful “bottle cap” fish, plants and bubbles.
For this, the first step is to collect plastic bottle caps from water and drink bottles. Next step is to paint the caps bright colours and then make a whole school of friendly fish.
Lastly children can make an egg carton dragonfly, turning egg cartons into colourful dragonflies with this fun paper craft. Kids can paint the egg cartons in their favourite colours and make antennas out of pipe cleaners.