Earth Day is coming up this week and though you might not be in your classroom with your students you have a great opportunity to create a ‘Recycled & Upcycled Art or Creation Challenge’.
Many kids (and families) are tried of being glued to their screens and looking for ideas for crafts or basically anything to do. Since your students are already at home they can use te resources or often “trash” or things that are going to be recycled to do this type of project.
Challenge your students to use a variety of materials: boxes, toilet paper rolls, cans, plastic bottles, bottle caps, egg cartons, old clothing, broken toys or puzzles, styrofoam and anything else they have laying around to make a:
1) craft
2) art project
3) repurpose something into something “new”
4) sculpture
You could also come up with a daily challenge like:
Monday: make something out of cardboard.
Tuesday: make a jewelry item.
Wednesday: a sculpture
Thursday: used recycled items to “make an animal”.
Friday: free choice or upcycle something (make an old shirt into a scarf, purse or face mask)
Once done you could do several “educational” things to extend the activities.
Writing:
You could have students write a “how to” piece; using sequential words to teach others how they made their craft.
Art Museum:
Students could send in pictures to the teacher or post in an online classroom (SeeSaw or Google Classroom). You could have students write comments, creations or ask questions about their peers’ recycled art projects.
For extra fun, you could add an “adult” or “siblings” category to the assignment and encourage them to participate in your museum of recycled art. This way bored siblings and parents can have a friendly competition with each other (or work together) to come up with ideas.
When I did this with my class, I also accepted more than one project per kids. Some kids got really into and loved this creative outlet so I allowed multiple entries. If you don’t want to have winners— you could have different prizes or certificates to the biggest, the most creative,
This project could also be done school-wide and shared on the school’s website or Facebook page.
Make videos/Multi-Media/Technology:
Could the record themselves (or take pictures) brainstorming or researching an idea, finding materials in their house, and making the recycled creation.
Math:
How many or much of each material did they use?
Measurement— dimensions, height, length, weight, etc.
Social Studies:
You could also challenge students to use “litter” they found outside— bottle caps, plastic spoons, forks or straws (after sanitizing)
They could explore where recycling or trash ends up in their city/state after it leaves their house or school.
Do you have any other fun ideas or crafts that you love to make for Earth Day with your bilingual students? Leave a comment and let us know.
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