Making Toys from Throw-Aways

When you help children find new ways to play with things that might have been thrown away, you're helping them know you care about the environment and about their ideas. And, it's not being new or expensive that makes toys valuable, it's the imagination and feelings that children put into them.One of the best gifts we can give children is the experience of being in households where people use resources wisely. That's a gift that will never wear out.

Here are ideas of things to re-use as playthings. You might offer them and ask your child, “What could you do with this?”

At the Office

• Paper that has been printed on one side only – for drawing paper;
• Punched-out holes that collect in the paper punch – for “confetti” as a fun addition for collages and art projects;
• Old computer printouts – for drawing paper or for tearing along the perforated lines (practicing fine motor skills);
• Used envelopes – for pretend “office” or “Post office” play;
• Old calendars – for “office” play, practice cutting squares, or number games.

Around the House

• Large cardboard boxes -- for play houses, toy cars or trucks -- even young children enjoy playing in a box that has a window or doorway cut out;
• Clean milk cartons – for inexpensive blocks, toy trucks, or wagons;
• Shoe boxes – for pretend “shoe store” play or containers for art supplies or doll beds or garages for toy cars;
• Buttons cut from old clothing – for collages, eyes for puppets, or other art projects. Be careful about using buttons with very young children;
• Unused checkbook ledger sheets and deposit slips – for “bank” play;
• Old clothes like jackets, vests, ties, slips, nightgowns, hats, purses, briefcases, or jewelry – for dress-up play, painting aprons, or cleaning rags;
• Old sheets and towels – for stuffing material, rag balls for throwing, capes for dress-up, or blankets for dolls or stuffed animals;
• Used wrapping paper and ribbons – for collages, paper chains, other artwork, or dress-up play;
• Old magazines or catalogs – for making collages, practicing cutting out pictures, making a display of favorite pictures, or grouping in categories (animals, food, etc.).

In the Kitchen

• Bottoms of celery stalks or carrots – for printing designs,
• Egg shells, crushed and dyed with food coloring – for art projects,
• Apple seeds, peach pits, pear seeds – for collages and comparisons of likenesses and differences,
• Pineapple tops – for planting in soil,
• Carrot tops – for planting in a dish of water,
• Paper grocery bags – for puppets or other art projects (when cut open and laid flat),
• Boxes from cereal, macaroni, etc. – for three-dimensional collages, making a model neighborhood, or playing “store.”