Simple activities using recycled materials

Simple activities using recycled materials 

Below are a few of our go to toddler crafts and activities using recycled materials.

Egg cartons -
There are so many fun crafts you can do with eggs cartons. Some of our favourites are painting egg carton monsters, making ‘Very Hungry Caterpillars’, carton crocodiles or egg carton ladybugs! These are all so easy to do with a toddler just paint and create! 

Cardboard boxes - 
Kids love boxes. You can make so many things out of them if you use your imagination. We love using large boxes to make things like a house, a race car and even a space ship. 
Of course you can also use a variety of boxes for painting activities and sometimes I just let my son sit in a large box with his crayons or chalk and just go for it! 

Old books  - 
If you have some old books that are too worn to even donate you can reuse them by cutting them up and letting your child paste and create a collage. You can also use old newspapers, catalogues, I even like to rip up and use those little boxes raisin come in, especially if they have a character on them! 

Cans - 
You can clean out and reuse cans for a lot of things like craft or a plant pot. We like to clean out our bean jars and use them as a bowling outdoor activity :) 

Containers -
I always like to clean and keep little plastic containers to reuse for painting or pasting crafts. Small containers are a great size for your paint or glue and you can continue to clean them out and reuse them. 

Butcher paper -
Old butcher paper or even large wrapping paper are great to use outside of free painting. Provide your child with lots of colourful paint and let them use there brush, sponge, hands, feet or whatever they choose to create there art. 

Toilet rolls -
There are so many crafts you can do using toilet rolls. We love making trees, butterflies, rockets and my sons favourite binoculars for scavenger hunts! 

Bubble wrap -
Bubble wrap is fun. My toddler loves using bubble wrap for creating ‘bee hives’ with yellow paint but really you can cut the wrap into any shape you want, squish in into the paint to create your artwork. 

Tissue box -
Again there are a lot of ideas out there for box craft but I like to simple use empty tissue boxes as a treasure chest. I place different items inside and my child can be surprised when they pull the ‘treasure’ items out! My son really liked this activity around the 12 month mark. 

Spray bottles - 
I like to keep empty spray bottles for a few different toddler activities. My toddler loves to do ‘colour spray’ by simply mixing food colouring with water in your spray bottle then provide your child with a large sheet to spray (preferably outside) Also a great practical life lesson is to provide your child with the spray bottle full on plain water and a cloth and let them help wash windows. My son really does enjoy this :) 

So there are just some of the activities we do in our home using recycled materials. I really like to try to use what ever I have on hand to create new and fun activities for my son.  
What activities are your go to? 

Take care 
  • Mummy R 




I also try to be really waste conscious, recycle what I can and use reusable where ever I can.

*Note if you haven’t already, best to make the switch now to...
  1. Microfiber cloths
  2. Washable sponges
  3. Kitchen scrub brush
  4. Rags/cloth wipes
  5. Reusable shopping bags
  6. Cloth napkins
  7. Handkerchief
  8. Cloth diapers
  9. Lunchboxes/ meal prep containers
  10.  Reusable coffee/ beverage cups 
  11. Silverware (at parties rather then plastic)
  12. Real plates ( rather then plastic)
  13.  Reusable straws 

These are just a few xx

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