Faith Curriculum Library: Tapestry of Faith: Love Surrounds Us: A Program on the UU Principles and Beloved Community for Grades K-1

Activity 3: Recycled Photo Album

Activity time: 30 minutes

Materials for Activity

  • Empty cereal boxes
  • Large brown grocery bags - at least two for each participant
  • One-hole punch
  • Scraps of yarn, construction paper, and colored tissue paper
  • Glue
  • Scissors
  • Color markers
  • Optional: Assorted buttons and/or wiggly eyes

Preparation for Activity

  • Ask participants' families (and, if you wish, the congregation) to collect empty cereal boxes so each participant will have one cereal box.
  • Set all materials on work tables.

Description of Activity

This activity demonstrates how participants can transform things we would usually throw away into something beautiful and useful.

Tell the children you will be creating your own photo album out of scraps of paper and other things they might think should be thrown away. Give a cereal box to every participant. Help children cut apart the large front and back of the cereal box into two identically shaped squares or rectangles as the front and back covers. Then, help the children cut the brown paper bags into pages for their album, the same size as the cover or slightly smaller.

Now invite participants to use any of the scraps and odd items to decorate one side of each piece of box. Participants may cover with construction paper or tissue paper first and then add buttons or yarn or other scraps.

Help children assemble the cover, inside pages, and back. Punch several holes to bind the sheets together with yarn.

Talk to participants about what they might save in their album: photos, post cards, or special papers from school. Ask children why it is good to reuse materials when you can, rather than going out to buy something like a photo album.

Including All Participants

Children will need varying levels of help to cut out boxes and paper bags, tie yarn bows, and perhaps even decorate their photo album cover. Offer assistance as needed; be sure to leave children plenty of tasks to do on their own.