Engaging in fun upcycling ideas for students is a great way to keep your kids occupied while cutting down on wastage.
Whether you are looking for inspiration this roundup will stir you in the right direction.
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15 Cool Upcycling Ideas for Students Every Parent Should Know
1. Painted Egg Carton Masquerade Masks
Do you have egg cartons you haven’t discarded yet? Cut them into various masquerade mask shapes and give them to your kids to paint them to their liking. Once perfectly dried, add strings or ear loops to hold them to the kiddies’ faces.
The best thing is that aside from masquerade masks, there are a ton of things you can do with egg cartons.
2. Crayon Blocks
Every child has a handful of broken crayon pieces that have certainly seen better days. In fact, these are directly proportional to the number of kids you have in the house. Instead of throwing them away, consider melting and transforming them into crayon blocks.
This allows you to save on money and reduce wastage since you will not need to buy more crayons in a while. You will, however, need silicon molds to form the blocks.
Tip: Pour several colors into each mold section to create Ombre crayon blocks.
3. Upcycled Tee Bracelets
If you are a fan of upcycled clothing, you certainly have fabric scraps lying around. If not, you certainly have a handful of bright-colored t-shirts that your children have outgrown. Whichever the case, cut them into thin strips and braid them into a necklace.
Tip: You can go for monochrome or mix and match designs.
4. Plastic Waterfall
Plastic bottles can be annoying, but not when you can turn them into a waterfall for your kids to play with, especially during hot days. You only need a couple of bottles, a knife or scalpel, and some glue to stick the bottles onto a wall.
Tip: perfectly aligning them on the wall is critical for that flowy waterfall effect.
5. Coffee Containers Planters
Is your little one a green thumb? Keep them occupied in the garden with these dainty planters. Even better, encourage them to grow their garden by sprouting seedlings in these containers before transferring them to the garden.
Tip: They are cute hanged or displayed on a gardening bench.
6. Upcycled Bird Feeder
With canned food being such a large part of being a prepper, there is no doubt you have several soup cans up for disposal. Instead of throwing them away, help your kids turn them into colorful bird feeders for your garden.
Don’t worry if you do not have a garden because these will still look great on your balcony. Besides feeders, you can also turn others into waterers so that you can attract birds for a whole feast.
7. Plastic Skipping Rope
The result of weekly grocery shopping is more plastic bags than you know what to do with. To lessen the bulk and, of course, environmental hazards, cut them into strips and make braided skipping ropes from the strips.
A sellotape will come in handy in sealing the edges and providing excellent grip and traction during skipping.
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8. Cereal Box City
Breakfast cereal is a pantry staple in most if not all American homes. Utilize this staple to the fullest by allowing your kids to upcycle the boxes to recreate their favorite buildings by painting and labeling them to create a city.
This also makes an excellent activity for kids during sleepovers or playdates.
Tip: You may need to cut the boxes yourself to avoid accidents.
9. TP Spy Binoculars
What better to go with bird feeders and waterers than a pair of binoculars for your munchkins to take in all the action without scaring away the birds? You only need yarn, glue, or toilet paper rolls and, of course, crayons or stickers to customize the binoculars to your child’s liking.
10. Under the Dome
It is unbelievable how fast newspapers can pile up in your office, especially if you are an everyday reader. If this is you, offset your newspaper pile by upcycling them into building blocks for creative geodesic shapes like domes.
This will make a great hangout spot for visiting kids during sleepovers when treated like a tent.
11. CD Dream Catchers
Did you know that old CDs make exceptional dream catchers for your patio? The best part is that every household has a bunch of these collecting dust in the arctic or shed with everything going digital.
Use different colored yarns to weave different patterns and other accessories on the CDs to make them more fun and catchy.
12. Painted Can Planters
Upcycling ideas for students lists wouldn’t be complete without the timeless painted can planter hack. It is an easy, fun, and clever way to kill several birds with one stone. That is, you sharpen your kid’s painting and creativity skills, reduce wastage and improve their gardening skills.
Tip: There is no limit to the directions you can take with this upcycling hack. For instance, you can also transform plastic cans into fun shapes.
13. Can Bowling
Soup cans are by far the most versatile upcycling material you can find. Besides upcycling to planters and bird feeders or waterers, they also make fun targets for make-believe bowling.
Help your kids wash the cans before you let them decorate them in paper cuts, paint, or other preferred accessories. Afterward, stack them up and take turns throwing a tennis ball at them.
14. Marker Pen Crockery
Like adults, children also get attached to the mugs, plates, bowls, and even spoons that they love using, even if they are old. To revamp such loved crockery, allow your kids to customize them using permanent marker pen drawing.
Besides revamping the crockery, this allows your kids a chance to develop a sense of ownership.
15. Upcycled Toilet Roll Garage
How great would it be for your kids to have a garage for all their race car toys? Not only does it mean that you will no longer have a messy living room, but it also saves on money spent on storage.
All you need is a couple of toilet rolls glued inside cardboard. For a more realistic feel, have your munchkins label the garage and make road markings.
There you have it fellow preppers. You can never go wrong with these ideas. The best part is that there are many directions you can take with any of these ideas depending on the material you have available. For instance, you can also use aluminum can planters if you do not have coffee containers.
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