Remember when you were a kid and you had to save recycling to make things for school? Dioramas, science fair projects, egg drop parachutes. (Just me?!) Well, when I was teaching Kindergarten, before I had kids of my own, I saved all sorts of recycling to reuse in the classroom. I created supply caddies out of old cans, new crayons out of broken ones, counters and game pieces out of soda caps and math centers out of egg cartons. I found a use for pretty much everything! So much so, that some of my kids started bringing in their own recycling to add to the classroom, haha!
Somehow, between having 3 kids and moving a few times, I completely lost my recycled creativity! Sure, I still saved things from time to time, but I rarely used them. Recently, however, I’ve been re-inspired to get crafty with recycled items. It all started with my youngest’s first birthday party.
I wanted to do something different for him, so I decided to do a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom themed party. And when I throw party, I like to create pretty much everything from scratch. I could care less about the food (I know, horrible, right?!), I just want to expend some creative energy on the decorations!
So, I searched Pinterest for inspiration and decided to recreate some adorable alphabet trees, but by using materials I had at home. This led me to the recycling, where I would need to use paper towels rolls and cardboard. I created one model and was all ready to build my centerpieces for the party…then COVID-19 happened *insert sad face here*.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, this party won’t be happening soon.
Unfortunately, we never got to throw that big first birthday bash, so I never made the recycled centerpieces. But, I was hopeful that my middle child would get to make up for it with an ‘out of this world bash’ in June. He is super interested in pretty much anything that flys. Airplanes, rocket ships, helicopters, you name it! For his 3rd birthday he requested a red rocket ship theme. So, I went back to Pinterest for inspiration (Pinterest is seriously the best, isn’t it?!) and decided to reuse those toilet paper and paper towel rolls that I had saved. They were perfect for rocket ships!
However, with concerns over health conditions, we decided to do a Birthday Parade and only have immediate family stick around after. So, again, I made a single rocket, since it was going to be a small gathering. It was a bummer, but I was starting to feel more inspired by all of the recycled materials I had collected. We made binoculars for the kids and did a few other small projects.
Then, my aunt called. She is a craft master and has pretty much every supply you could possibly imagine! Her grand kids normally visit in the summer, but because of the Pandemic, she went to them instead. She had saved up a bunch of recycling to create fairy houses with the kids. However, since she had to fly across the country to them, the recycling didn’t make the suitcase list. She knew that I was entertaining 5 boys aged 5 and under this summer, and offered her recycled gold mine for us to use instead! I know, I’m a lucky girl! 🙂
And let me tell you, I have BIG plans for this stuff! First up? These amazing recycled egg carton trains. They were so simple to create AND are still keeping the kids occupied days later! Let’s break it down:
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Materials
- Recycled egg carton (6 egg sections needed to make 1 train)
- Kid safe paint
- Paint brushes
- Scissors
- Twine or string
- White card stock
- Shot glass (or small cup for tracing the wheels)
- Hole puncher
- Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks
How To
1. Begin by deciding on how many trains you want to make. You will need 6 egg sections for each train. I used an 18 egg section carton for this project since it is what my aunt had. We don’t buy eggs because of Mr. 3’s egg allergy, so we will take what we can get!
2. Makes 1 train – Cut your egg carton into one each of the following:
- 3 piece section (back of train)
- 2 piece section (front of train)
- 1 piece section (top of train)
3. Set your littles up with paint and have them paint their egg carton pieces. My 4 year old chose to do a rainbow pattern and my 3 year old painted his entire train red (shocker, haha)!
4. Once dry, hole punch the back of the 2 piece section and the front of the 3 piece section.
5. Using twine or string, tie the two sections together with the 2 piece section face down and the 3 piece section face up (as if it were holding eggs).
6. Now, grab your hot glue gun and glue the 1 piece section (face up) on top of the 2 piece section (on the second egg spot).
7. Using your white card stock and a shot glass, trace out 2 larger circles (the top of the shot glass) and 8 small circles (the bottom of the shot glass).
8. Color your circles black (or the wheel color of your choice) and cut them out.
9. Grab that hot glue gun again and glue the wheels on like this:
- 2 piece section – small wheel in front, large wheel in back (on each side)
- 3 piece section – 3 small wheels on each side
10. If desired, write your kiddo’s name on the back of the train. I drew a little box around each name to make it look like a license plate. It’s super cute and a great way to tell the trains apart!
Invitation to Play!
My kids can’t get enough of these trains! Honestly, because they are made with recycling and my kids are not exactly gentle (wink, wink), I thought that they would be broken within the first few minutes of play! Here we are, days later, and they are still going strong! They have been, surprisingly, gentle with these trains and their play has been so imaginative.
My youngest got a cute little plastic train for his first birthday and it has gotten thrown around, stepped on and pounded on the regular. But this recycled egg carton train? Not once! The kids all take great care of theirs. I don’t know if it’s the fact that they helped create the trains, or simply that they can play on a deeper level, but it is wonderful!
These egg carton trains are constantly filled with animals and dinosaurs. They have competed in races, been used to tow other vehicles and taken regular trips around the house full of passengers! The play has been simply magical. I don’t know how else to describe it! It is certain to say that we will be making more of these again soon!
Looking for other simple DIY projects to do with your kiddos? Check out these fun and easy DIY crayons!
