Make Recycling Your Child's School Supplies Fun

Recycling your child's school supplies can be as simple as donating them to the child's teacher. This will allow the teacher to distribute items to children who may not otherwise have the necessary supplies to participate in class. It may also allow the teacher to create certain projects that would otherwise be impossible because of limited materials. This will undoubtedly be a sincerely appreciated gift.

Parents who would like to recycle left over school supplies at home may want to try some of these fun ideas.

Crayon "cookies" - Crayon cookies are simple to make and lots of fun. They are an excellent use of the small bits and pieces of crayons that everyone seems to have, and no one knows what to do with. The necessary supplies include broken crayons, an old muffin tin, the oven, and the freezer.

Simply place the broken crayon pieces into the muffin tins. Innumerable color variations and combinations are possible. Place the muffin tin into the oven with the temperature set at about 300 degrees. Once all of the crayons have melted, remove the tins from the oven, allow them to cool, and insert them into the freezer. Once they have completely cooled, gently pour them onto a soft kitchen towel. Crayon cookies make fantastic, inexpensive gifts.

Loose leaf binder "photo albums and scrapbooks" - Rather than discarding old loose-leaf binders, turn them into useful photo albums or colorful decorated scrapbooks. To keep things simple and cost effective, children may paste together two sheets of colored construction paper, use a paper punch for the holes along the edge, and insert them into the binders. Repeat the process for as many pages as are desired. These also make great sticker albums.

Computerized "quilts" - Kids come home from school with more papers than most parents know what to do with. It is difficult to throw most of these creations away. Although it is tempting to keep them all, who has that kind of room? This simple project allows parents to recycle these treasures and avoid the need for a home addition. Here is how to do it. Choose a selection of art papers. For this example, we will use twelve. Place them on the floor in three rows of four. Take many photographs of a variety of combinations and then load the photos onto the computer. Use the computers photo editing and enhancement tools to create works of art that will make great wall hangings, t-shirt prints, and more. These are simple to save to disks and make excellent screen savers.

Dead pen garden signs - Imagine how many ink-less pens are sitting in the landfills... One way to recycle these at home instead, happens in the garden. Either write or print a garden sign on a regular piece of card-stock. Cover the entire surface with waterproof glue, and wait for it to dry. Now hot glue the sign onto the pen. Painted tin or a block of wood also may be chosen in place of the card-stock. These recycled signs will help to make the garden even greener.

These are just a few recycling projects. Never be afraid to try out a new idea. A little bit of creativity and a few household items can make recycling your child's school supplies a lot of fun.