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How to Make Recycled Bottle Sculptures for Kids

One man's trash is another man's treasure and with a bit of creativity and time, you and your child can easily save that old soda bottle or milk jug from the trash heap. Just clean it up, cut it up and decorate it with commonplace household items. You can create a beautiful, imagination-inspired sculpture and enjoy an activity to keep a little one engaged all afternoon. Help your child learn and grow creatively and teach her about the importance of reusing and recycling old items, planting the seed of of environmental conscientiousness at a young age.

Things You'll Need

  • Plastic soda bottles and/or milk jugs
  • Scissors
  • Glue gun
  • Hot melt glue
  • Different colored sheets of tissue paper
  • Scotch tape
  • Glue stick
  • Different patterned fabrics
  • Fake jewels
  • Buttons
  • Fabric paint
  • Different colored sheets of construction paper
  • Paint brushes
  • Lace
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Instructions

    • 1
      Only adults should use glue guns.

      Use a sturdy bottle for the skeleton for your sculpture, like a milk jug or a large soda bottle. Organize smaller bottles -- such as water bottles, vitamin bottles and juice containers -- next to or on top of each other. These bottles should all be plastic, making it easier to cut them and glue them together. To create towers, place smaller bottles on the base in a way that is pleasing to your child. Tape and glue these pieces together using a glue gun. An adult should do this part as glue guns can get exceedingly hot. The sculpture base should dry and cool in seconds.

    • 2
      Save that wrapping tissue for your bottle sculptures.

      Have your child choose colors of tissue paper and cover the sculpture. Neatly cut up the tissue paper, making sure each piece overlaps another piece so that none of the bottle is showing. Use one color and allow the additions to provide the detail work, or make a pattern with the paper, striping, patching, or layering it on for a three-dimensional effect.

    • 3
      Old buttons make for great detail work on a bottle sculpture.

      Decorate your sculpture using the glue stick to attach bits of felt and other fabrics to the tissue paper. Add fake jewels and buttons; they're light and the glue will hold them to the paper with ease. Squirt paint directly on the sculpture from the bottles and then fan out a design using a paint brush, or make small pools of paint on construction paper in which to dip the brushes. Attach pieces of colored construction paper and lace. Allow the sculpture to dry for at least a few hours.

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