Good Clean Fun - With Your Trash!

Photo from http://lessonplans.craftgossip.com/recycle-your-lunch/2010/08/28  

by Debby Stewart, 
Dean of Students, Community College of Vermont
 

If you have children, you may feel a little like a beleaguered recreation director by this time in the summer. Good weather sure makes things easier, but the pace at which kids can burn through activities is daunting, if not exhausting. What's a poor parent to do – especially when the parent has end of summer semester papers to revise, projects to craft and exams to ace?

Look no further than your recycling bin. Cereal boxes, oatmeal cylinders, toilet paper tubes, and egg cartons can all be used to fuel your kids’ imaginations. If kids are old enough to handle scissors, you can give them a roll of masking tape, a pair of kid-approved scissors, and access to the paper garbage.  Since a blank page or empty canvas can be a bit overwhelming, start by issuing a challenge: Create a robot! Design a sculpture that looks like grandma, dad or the dog!  Build a town, a kingdom, or an amusement park!

Sometimes kids can be slow to warm to these kinds of projects, and may need a little help getting started. Don’t let that discourage you. Few things are more satisfying than the act of transformation--making something out of nothing.  Depending on the age and interests of your child, you may want to play together. An imaginative project can “romance” both children and adults alike, particularly as the possibilities unfurl. One robot or sculpture begets another, castles multiply, roads require vehicles, and everything can benefit from a layer of paint.

You can also use plastic recyclables—like mini bottles of shampoo or mustard and ketchup containers—to create magic potions for play in the tub or wading pool. Add a little shampoo and a few drops of food coloring to each bottle, fill with water, and you've got the makings of a terrific witches’ brew or silly soup. If your kid delights in the creepy, toss some small plastic spiders or snakes into the mix.

For toddlers, you can simply freeze ice cubes of different color and then slip a few at a time into their water as you bathe or play with them. The contrast of frozen cubes and warm water can be fun for young children, particularly as the colors dissipate and mix to create new blends.

Once the creative energy is flowing and your child is engaged in a project, you can steal some time to focus your energies on end of semester assignments – or, you just might decide to take a time out and dig in to some imaginative play with your child.

For more ideas on how to crank up your children's creativity through simple and easy projects, check out this website: http://madebyjoel.com/.  What are your best tips for keeping kids entertained during the dog days of summer?