Innovative ways to recycle or reuse kids stuff

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With growing kids at home, one common problem that every parent has to face is how to do away with the innumerable things that keep piling up. From old socks to the old badminton, the things which enter the home never seem to leave, doubling and tripling over the years. Well, one easy solution is to donate or give it off to family or friends who can use it. Those who want a creative way out, here is how you can recycle old stuff:

Innovative ways to recycle or reuse kids stuff

The old socks: School-going kids need a new pair of socks almost every quarter so the old ones can prove to be useful as a bathroom rug. All you need to do is entwine them or knot them together and stitch through them in concentric circles. Involve your kids as well to give a creative twist to the recycled products

Puppet made from old socks

 Alternatively, use old socks to make puppets and let kids start their own puppet show.           

The bat: Try painting the bat in bright pastel shades which will go with the interiors of your house. It can adorn your walls changing the look of the room completely and also help you preserve your kids’ childhood.

The school shirt: Your growing child’s school shirt gets short every year. Nevertheless, it can still prove useful for dressing up your pet; protecting it from extremes of temperature or just make it good-looking!

                                                                           

Recycle old cardboard or box into a doll house.

The shoe-boxes: Of course your little princess loves all her pretty new shoes but the boxes do go a waste. A creative way to use them is to help your daughter in re-using the boxes to house her dolls – and the boxes will transform into a majestic dollhouse. You may also use these boxes for school projects and models.

Check here for the step-by-step procedure to make dollhouse-

https://www.instructables.com/id/Dollhouse-from-boxes-and-cardboard/

The left-over of the pencils: Once the pencil becomes so small that it cannot be used for writing, the only logical thing which comes to mind is to throw it away. But you can collect such remains and use them to create your artistic wall-hanging. In fact, you can also involve the kids to pitch in for this handicraft.

The baby food cans: Of course, the baby food tin cans can be used for storing the pulses, cereals, and spices. But if you still have some extra ones and do not know what to do with it except for discarding it as junk, hold on. 

                                                      

Baby food jar recycled as a pencil holder

These cans can be transformed into very useful items such as the piggybank and decorative pen holders with some effort. Needless to say, the process is quite simple.

Next time you have some old kids’ stuff, think about innovative ways to recycle or reuse the same. With a little bit of effort and creativity, you can turn junk to recycled products! 

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For those with children at home, the number of things that they need is equally proportionate to the things that they can no longer use. For parents, the real challenge is how to effectively maintain a balance between the needs of the kids and avoiding unnecessary expenditures. If you as a parent believe in recycling stuff so that you can use them to cater to newer needs, while raising eco-friendly kids,  you should definitely read ahead.

Advantages of recycling/ reuse of  useless items by kids at home

Kids would learn to create new things out of waste items. 

It is a great way to give wings to their imagination and creativity.

Recycling or repurposing of items will save a couple of bucks too.

Kids will learn the value of things bought for them.

The activity is great to keep kids engaged in a productive way.

The valuable lesson of being eco friendly becomes visible to kids.

Creative ways to recycle or reuse common household items

Creating something new out of old items can be fun. It is more interesting when parents join kids to make recycled products. Here is a list for transforming common household items into recycled products-

From cracked ball to beautiful paperweight: 

It’s true – the rubber balls which crack and can no longer be played with can be used as a paperweight by using pins to hold pressed sequins or beads on the exterior of the ball. You can also paint the surface of the ball to make it more attractive.

From the broken globe into beautiful light holders:

Many households have a globe for children. Once broken into two halves, it becomes useless but you can use it as light holders to cover the bulbs. It would add to the décor of your room and give it a ‘world-class’ touch!

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From metallic bottle caps and broken crayons to beautiful mini diyas: 

You would normally throw out the metallic bottle caps after using the opener to remove them. The same goes for the crayons. Collect them instead. All you need to do is clean them, put a thick thread as a wick in each of them, and pour molten wax by melting the crayons. Your colorful mini diyas/ candles are ready for use during festivals or as home décor.

From old crayons to push up crayons: 

Yes, the pushup crayons can be made at home too instead of buying them from the market where they are relatively more expensive than the normal ones. Melt old or broken crayons and pour them into the plastic cover of the finished glue stick. Let it dry and there, your new push up crayon is ready.

From newspaper to odor absorbent: 

You would have never looked at the newspaper this way but you can try it out for yourself. So, you can either crumble it to keep it inside the shoe for those who have smelly feet or keep a dry stack in the room. It absorbs bad odor.

Moreover, newspapers can be used to make baskets, gift bags, party hats, paper flowers, and ornaments, etc.

From leftover cardboards/ stationery items to the desk organizers

Use leftover cardboard, colorful papers, decorative items, etc., to create a desk organizer. The kids can keep their pencils, crayons, and other small items safely in the same. Here is a link for making desk organizer at home- 
 https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-DIY-Storage-Organizer-From-Cardboard/

From old plastic bottles to beautiful flower pots and piggy banks

piggy bank image from Pinterest.com

Handmade items look adorable when kids create them out of waste products. Paint a bottle and cut the same into half horizontally. The cut out pots need to be deep enough to contain soil and space for the plant to grow. Now pierce two holes on the two sides to tie a rope. Your pot is ready!

For making piggy banks, hold a wide-mouth plastic bottle horizontally and cut out a small rectangular piece from the center. Now, using colorful papers, sketch pens, watercolors, etc to create face, arms, and feet.

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