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Green or eco-friendly crafts for children using recycled or upcycled (repurposing a waste material into a product of higher quality materials) are plentiful this holiday season. In addition to being better for the environment, crafting from items found around the house has the added benefit of being economical.
No Time for Flashcards is one of my favorite blogs for finding activities to do with young children. No all posts are green, but three posts that do fit that category include recycled Christmas tree using paper from an old catalog, A "Bow"tiful Christmas tree made out of a grocery bag and misshapen present bows, and a Bell Christmas ornament made from an Easter egg. All three are great crafts for toddlers and preschoolers. My kids, ages 3 and 5, and I made some of the recycled Christmas trees using magazine pages earlier this week.
Photo credit: No Time for Flashcards
For little ones who like to paint, why not try painting holiday cards or making your own wrapping paper using paints made from berries and beets! The Green Art Project has a tutorial for making your own natural paints using fruits and vegetables you may already have in the house.
Over at This and That, there's another idea for making your own gift wrap. Money Saving Mom also suggests having the kids help make homemade wrapping paper.
Here's a beautiful and easy craft from Maya*Made to hang on the tree - a "snow"-covered pinecone ornament.
Photo credit:Maya*Made
There are a lot of fun ornaments that can be made with a burnt-out incandescent light bulb. It's upcycling at it's finest! There's a snowman face ornament, Rudolph the recycled light bulb, the light bulb penguin, and there are some more cute ideas over at Keep'n the SunnySide. You could also keep it simple and let your child paint and glue whatever they want on the light bulb.
Photo credit: Crafts by Amanda
Summer at Wired for Noise suggests embroidering pictures on old pillow cases and had fun teaching her son the handicraft.
Another craft idea that we've tried in our house is transforming old, broken crayons into new crayons. The Red, White and Green says you don't need to spend $30 on a Crayola Crayon Maker (made of nearly four pounds of plastic) to do it either. If you want to make holiday-themed crayons, you just need some holiday candy molds. Zakka Life has a tutorial on how to recycle old crayons into new crayons using candy molds. You can also just use muffin tins for round crayons. Raising Maine also suggests making the recycled crayons into ornaments.
Photo credit: Raising Maine
Older children may enjoy stringing popcorn or cranberries on wire or thread as garland to be hung on the Christmas tree. When the tree is taken down, the edible garland can be strung outside for the birds or put into your compost bin.
Another fun idea for a craft and/or gift for older children from Little Birdie Secrets is felted soap. "You cover a bar of soap with this fabulous wool fiber, then felt it, and you have a soap and washcloth in one!"
Photo credit: Little Birdie Secrets
Celebrate Green Blog recently came across some eco-friendly holiday crafts from Family Fun magazine using upcycled materials, including retro ornaments made from toilet paper rolls, Christmas carolers made from toilet paper rolls, holey socks and old sheet music, and a Flame-free menorah.
Photo credit: Family Fun
Lastly, there are some creative recycled craft ideas over at Monkey See Monkey Do including a milk carton nativity or Christmas village and a mop-head Santa, as well as coat hanger snowmen and reindeer and a trash bag wreath.
Looking for more green craft ideas? Check out Books make great gifts for green crafters over at Crafting a Green World. She suggests Green Crafts for Children: 35 Step-by-Step Projects Using Natural, Recycled, And Found Materials by Emma Hardy especially for green mamas and their green girls.
Do you have some eco-friendly holiday craft ideas
