5 Upcycled Crafts for Earth Day!

By Netia Simms / April 13, 2022

Happy Earth Day Friends!

I know we are all constantly thinking of cool and new ways to create art masterpieces with our children. After many hours of exploration, I compiled a list of fun and creative crafts you can do.

April 22nd is Earth Day, and while we want to be conscious of how we treat our Earth on a daily basis; I’ve based today’s craft ideas on things that we would typically trash or recycle. You heard it right. Upcycled crafts!

So let’s get to it!

1. Egg Carton Planter

Simple yet amazing! Not only can you compost some of your egg cartons, but you can also reuse them for plants.

Materials:

Water
Soil
Plant seeds
Egg Carton
Crafting tools of your choice

Put a little soil in each egg hole of your egg carton, add your seeds, and then water. Sit the egg carton on a windowsill or outside to get some sunlight and watch it grow (of course this process takes some time). To add a little more razzle dazzle, decorate your carton before planting with paint, glitter, painted rocks and more. Add an identifying label to each slot and replant as they grow.

Plants growing from Unsplash - https://unsplash.com/photos/ruQHpukrN7c

2. Old Tin Cans

Don’t throw those cans out! You can do so many things with a tin can. Of course we are going to decorate it first. You can paint it, create a mosaic with marbles and glue, or you can do a cool decoupage with colorful paper and many more. This can store many things like a plant, pencils, crafting supplies, or paper flowers.

Materials:

Tin cans (from canned goods, coffee etc.)
Mod Podge or a Glue and water mixture
Scrap paper (old news paper, construction, or tissue paper)
Paint

Tin Can planters from Unsplash - https://unsplash.com/photos/dclPEtMVdK8

3. Cardboard Box Robot

We all know kids love cardboard boxes! There’s a plethora of things we can do with cardboard, but we will only talk about one today: Cardboard Robots. So many recycled things could be used with this craft. Plastic spoons for arms and legs, bottle caps for the eyes; Instead of throwing out your used foil, maybe add it to the head for a hat. The sky's the limit. So grab that cardboard, some scissors and glue, and get creative!

Materials:

Cardboard
Spoons
Bottle caps
Foil
Scissors & glue

4. Bottle Paint Bubble Art

Who doesn’t love bubbles? One way to get creative with painting and bubbles is bubble painting. Add your bubbles to your bowls and your food coloring, cut your bottle in half and tape your mesh onto the bottom of the half with the mouthpiece, dip your bottle (mesh piece down) into a bowl of your desired color, and blow it onto your piece of paper. Wallah! You have a bubble masterpiece. Blow close and far away for color intensity.

Materials:

Plastic bottle
Mesh (from a fruit bag)
Watercolors or food coloring
Bubbles
Paper
Bowls
Scissors & duct tape

And today I will leave you with one last but not least upcycled idea. This one may be one of my favorites!

5. Reused Crayons

You know those crayons that you have that are just too small to color with? Don’t throw them out!! Gather all of your crayon bits and a standard silicone baking mold (or a shaped one like hearts, letters or holiday themed), preheat your oven to 300 degrees and let’s get crafting. Put the colors you like together into your molds, and put them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes or whenever your crayons fully melt. Let them cool and pop them out to color with. These are super easy and fun, tons of ways you can get creative with this and they are nice gifts for friends and family!

Materials:

Crayons
Silicone baking molds

Recycled crayons from Unsplash - https://unsplash.com/photos/IEtUye-b28A

More Upcycled Craft Ideas

I hope you enjoy creating these crafts and activities with your little ones and Happy Earth Day! Below I have listed some awesome places you can go to do some upcycle crafting if you would like to enjoy a day out! You can also check your local areas for places like these!