ECO-FRIENDLY FUN ACTIVITIES

Hello guys, today I thought about sharing some eco-friendly fun activities with you. It is all about creating some amazing things from scratch using recycled materials.

What are Eco-friendly materials?

Eco-friendly materials are materials that do not harm the environment. Making things out of recycled materials not only preserves the environment by reducing pollution but also helps reduce waste and make the planet a better place to live
Creating from recycled materials is not so hard though it might require a little effort but, it saves you money.

Children are excited by the idea of creating things they can play with from scratch.They often enjoy the fact that they are part of the process so, it will be great to involve children in the processes

Below are some of my creative works of art with recycles am so proud of it that I decided to share the ideas with you all

Cardboard Boat Making

Materials used

- Cardboard boxes
- Transparent tape
- scissors
- Paint of different colours
- Paintbrushes
- Pipe cleaner (used this to hold them together )

This idea came about when we initiated ‘in the moment planning’
‘in the moment planning’ is identifying a child interest right there and then asking questions (open ) then extending.
Most of the children in my class kept talking about the boat, so we decided to extend by making a boat using recycled materials, ‘cardboard box’ it takes roughly four days to finish up and that is because I was not making just one I was making a lot of them so the children can have lots of fun and enjoy,

They were involved by helping to paint the boat and, guess what? they were so eager to play with it, they kept talking about it, they sat by me and watched me put them together, showed lots of interest all through the process by asking a question and at the end, were so happy as they played in the boat and pretend they are catching fishes using the fishing rod
Making this was a great idea, the children often enjoy playing with them

Cardboard Train Making

Materials used

- Cardboard boxes
- Paints
- Paintbrushes
- Pipe cleaner
- Scissors
- Transparent tape

making a train was also the Children idea they love putting chairs together and pretending they were driving a train so, we decided to extend the play by creating a train using cardboard boxes, they were so excited when I told them we will be making trains using the cardboard, they helped in painting the boxes and I put them together
I used six boxes in making this and so six children could only play at the same time so they take turns, they learn to wait, and in the process of waiting, they are also having fun playing with other things like the boats

Related; 6 fun activities for babies

Making Cardboard Aeroplane

Materials used

- Cardboard boxes
- Scissors
- Transparent tape
- Paints
- Paintbrushes

Extending children play through their ideas was the drive for this creation and, it was beautiful. at first, I did not know how to go about making this, in the end, I did, I pictured that I wanted the children to enter the plane and pretend they were pilots and passengers as they usually do in the pretend clothes, only then was I able to make it and trust me the children love it and, up until today they enjoy playing with it

Related; fun summer craft

Tractor cardboard making

Materials

- Cardboard boxes
- Scissors
- Stretchy beading thread ( used to put the cardboard together)
- jute string
- Paints
- sponges

This is a role play idea, we decided to make this in line with our topic “farming and gardening. The children loved the idea and told me things about a tractor, when I asked them what colour they would like to paint the tractor they insisted on the colour of a tractor saying the colour of a tractor is red or green and that the wheel is black, that how great their understanding is.
They helped in sponge painting the tractor and had fun doing so. If you think about creating anything using recycling material tell the children about it, listen to their ideas, and let them guide you into their actual view of whatever it is they want to create.
As usual, during most of my creation, I hardly knew what to do at first but, with the picture of a tractor in mind, I was able to come out with a brilliant idea. I created a driver seat where the children can sit and pretend to be driving the tractor, the most exciting part for me is when I decided to add the box blade, so the children can pretend to be pulling the soil or weed, I replaced the soil and weed with small balls which the children love, they enjoy pretending to be tractor driver, love pulling the box blade to make the ball falls into the trolley

Do’s of Eco-fun Activities

- Ensure whatever you want to create is the child idea
- Make sure they are involved in the process
- Fill them into every step
- Ensure it is big enough for at least two children so they can have fun
- Use the process to enlighten them more about the things you want to create, for example, if you are making a
- boat it is a great time to talk about the parts of the boat, talk about the sea, talk about fishes, talk about fishing rods and all the likes
- Let them help with the paintings and other little pieces of stuff

Don’t of Eco-friendly Activities

- Do not create things outside the children’s interest
- Do not create things without their involvement
- Do not assume they already know what you want to create and not talk about it, it’s an opportunity to find out what they already know and build on it.
- Do not create things without picturing how the child is going to have fun playing inside of it

The benefit of Eco-friendly activities

- Eco-fun activities save money as you only need to create from making new things from old things (recycled materials), teaches children not to waste thus teaches them to recycle
- Eco-friendly activities help preserve the environment, if waste materials are not recycled, it can negatively impact the environment
- Eco-friendly activities teach children why we recycle as they actively participate in the process
- Teaches children that recycle items can be used to create a new product, let them know that those bottles, can’s can be used to build a skyscraper
- Improving children creativity through their involvement
- Improving children knowledge of what they already know by building on it