Turn an empty milk carton into a recycled art birdhouse. Clean out the carton and allow to dry thoroughly. Do not drench the carton in water as it is made of a paper product and can fall apart. Using a staple or glue, fasten the top of the carton closed. Cover the entire carton with masking tape. This will help the birdhouse to stay firm should it rain. Cut a hole in one side of the carton approximately 4 inches from the bottom. Make the hole about 1 inch in diameter. Use a pencil to poke three holes in the bottom of the carton and three at the top for ventilation. Punch a hole in the top of the carton and thread a string through to hang the birdhouse. Allow students to decorate their birdhouses with paint or markers. When the art has dried, hang the birdhouses from a favorite tree branch.
Empty plastic bottles can be used in a variety of different art projects. Fill the bottle with beans, beads, or rice. Secure the lid on the bottle and decorate the project with glue, paint, and any other items you have on hand. Children can paint it, sprinkle glitter on the glue, or even paste pieces of tissue paper onto the bottle. Allow time to dry, then have students make up rhythms to play with their bottle shaker band.
Use scrap paper to produce new sheets of colorful pulp stationery. All you need is a window screen, a blender, paper towels and scrap paper. Put approximately 1 cup of paper into a blender with a 1/4 cup of water. Add in construction paper of different colors, lined paper or even wrapping paper. Blend until all big pieces are broken up. Do not overblend, or the paper will become gray mush. Pull the resulting pulp from the blender and smooth onto a window screen that is placed over a pan or plate to catch excess water. Layer paper towels on top to soak up moisture and leave the paper to dry. For flatter, thinner paper, place a light book or cookie sheet on top of the paper towels. Use the resulting product to write thank-you cards, invitations, or personal notes.
Use recycled sheets of construction paper, old magazines, and even newspapers to create a mosaic. Have students draw a rough sketch on a blank sheet of paper. Use pieces of cut up magazines, scraps of construction paper or any other paper product to fill in the sketch and create a mosaic picture. Allow time to dry and place the mosaic in a picture frame.