Activity time: 30 minutes

Materials for Activity

• Cleaned, used items to be repurposed, e.g., socks, other clothing/fabric, buttons, coffee containers, paper towel tubes, non-recyclable bottles or cans, newspapers, greeting cards
• Arts and crafts materials and tools, e.g., thread and needles (needs adult supervision); stickers; glue sticks; tape; scissors (including left-handed scissors); paints, markers, and crayons
• Optional: Hot glue gun

Preparation for Activity

• Display all materials so they are accessible. Have empty work surfaces available for participants to use once they have an idea and a plan.
• Optional: If you will use a hot glue gun, set up a station where participants can bring materials to be glued and assign an adult to use or supervise use of the glue gun.

Description of Activity

Using a variety of supplies to be reused and recycled, create new items using the old ones: sock puppets, vases, storage containers, gift tags, new greeting cards, etc. Let the participants imagine and create. Remember, this activity only saves resources when you use items that would be discarded and your new creations eliminate the need to purchase something new. For example, the greeting cards created will make buying new cards (and the manufacture of some new cards) unnecessary.