Sustainable Summer DIY Crafts for Kids

Summertime is the perfect time to relax and enjoy craft projects with your kids. Building things with your kids is a great way to start the conversation about reuse, source reduction, and recycling. Here are a few green crafts to fill the hot summer afternoons:

1. Upcycle Used Containers into a Homemade Bird Feeder

   It's great to recycle used peanut-butter jars and yogurt containers, but reusing them is even more green. And as it turns out, used plastic containers make great bird feeders!

   This project mostly involves cutting and gluing, so older kids should be able to handle it on their own. Be sure to supervise younger kids with the scissors, though.

   Hang up the finished project outside the window, and have fun watching the summer songbirds from the comfort of your air-conditioned living room!

   Get the instructions here.

2. Build Wind Chimes out of Old Tin Cans

   Raid your recycling bin for the materials you need to build a charming, homemade set of wind chimes (or set aside the cans as you use them). Remove the labels from your used vegetable and tuna cans, and get out a paintbrush and your kids' favorite colors of tempera paint.

   Pro tip: Put tape around the open edges of the cans to prevent little fingers from getting cut.

   Once the artists are satisfied with their decorating, all you need is some yarn or string and a few washers to serve as clappers.

   Get the full instructions here.   

3. Give Old Crayon Nubs New Life in Rainbow Colors 

   Every household with kids has an old cookie tin, shoe box, or bit of Tupperware full of tiny, unusable crayon nubs. If you want to model sustainable habits for your kids, those crayon nubs will come in handy.

   Rather than throwing them out, grab the kids’ favorite silicone candy molds, or even a foil-cup lined cupcake tin, and show them how to make their very own rainbow crayons!

   Get the full instructions here. 

4. Repurpose Old Magazines into New Woven Coasters

   At some point this summer, you'll have to toss those piles of old magazines into the recycling. Or, even better, you can get the whole family together to upcycle them into attractive, useful woven coasters.

   It only takes six magazine pages, folded into strips, to weave these multicolored pads. This craft requires pretty well-developed fine motor skills, so it may be a better project for older kids.

   Get the full instructions here.

5. Turn Plastic Bags into Braided Bracelets

   When your plastic bag stash is at its limit, it's time to call the kids in for this upcycling fashion project. All you need is a pair of scissors and a few multicolored plastic bags — beads are optional. (You can also use clear bags and colored cord or ribbon.)

   Once you cut the bags into strips and tie one end together, all that's left is the braiding. In the end, your child will have his or her very own woven bracelet along with the knowledge that plastic bags don't have to go straight to the landfill.

   Get the full instructions here.

Children learn about source reduction, material reuse, and recycling by example. Not only will these crafty activities provide lots of summer fun, they'll teach kids to practice sustainability in everything they do. That's a lesson they'll take with them through every season of the year.