20+ DIY’s Using Recyclables

I think one required personality trait of caregivers has to be a tendency to hoard things from the recycle bin! My family knows to ask me before anything gets pitched in the trash. I mean, who doesn’t have a stash of things you plan using at SOME point!

Mine looks like this.

And this!

Now that that embarrassing moment is out of the way, lets dive into some DIY activities you can make for your littles!

I love a good cardboard box! Who doesn’t have a few Amazon boxes lying around, however, I have found that the boxes from Imperfect Foods make the best DIY’s. They are super sturdy and easy to cut.

This ball drop was such a hit with my charges that I loaned it to my mom’s one year old preschool class!

Our Christmas tree pom pom push box could easily be adapted to any season!

During our rainbow theme I put this rainbow together with some paper towel tubes. It has become really versatile.

Here we used pom poms!

It added another fun element to our rainbow rice bin!

At Christmas, we practiced fine motor skills with recycled Christmas trees! I also made a few puzzles using these shapes. There is a Reel on my Instagram, if you’re interested.

We also used the trees for color matching. This is another DIY that can be made for any season or theme.

This fine motor Rescue the Peep, or whatever you want to put inside, board is a recent addition to my collection! You could use yarn instead of rubber bands for younger children.

I put together this counting board using pieces from a puzzle and a dot marker. I love how simple it is for my youngest friends! Because of that, you can use it with any counting tool you have during any theme. This would also be great with letters.

During our rainbow theme, I wanted a puzzle of some sort to go with plastic rainbow stacker. If you wanted to go all out you could cut out all the pieces and color them for another puzzle.

I’m still so in love with this Frosty I made back in January. Sadly he did not make it through the winter! Much like the Ball Drop I shared earlier, you could use this idea with lots of other themes.

I think I might love this turkey more than the snowman! This is a double recycle project with the brown paper from an amazon box. This is a cute fine motor feather pull that we loved during Thanksgiving.

And the ultimate way to recycle cardboard? Add a little paint!

Lets move on to plastic and glass containers!

We use glass jars for a lot of things. Now, if using glass with your toddler scares you let me help! First off, use them in a carpeted area while sitting on the floor. This minimizes drops. Have a plan beforehand for breaks, tell your kids what you expect them to do when a jar breaks.

Jars are perfect tools for fine motor, sorting, music jars, sensory bottles and storage. Since I’ve always used glass with my charges, they are perfectly capable of handling them appropriately.

One of the first sensory bins I give a crawler is this bottle bin, especially if there is a tile floor involved. They love to tip them over to hear the loud noises. Also, they make great sensory bottles. You can see the straws in one of the bottles above. I’ve also placed bottles around the room as crawling incentives.

With an older toddler you can use them for matching lids which also turns into a fun fine motor practice game.

Don’t forget to add bottles to your sensory play.

I love a good pom pom push, especially if it is Thanksgiving themed! Again, this doesn’t need to be a seasonal activity. You could have your child just push pom poms into a plastic container for fun!

I think an underused recyclable is the spice container!

They are perfect for fine motor games. I really like the double sided ones that have a large opening and smaller holes.

This makes a great posting activity.

If you trust your toddler not to mouth toothpicks, you can try it with a smaller spice jar.

I used to keep this one in my backpack to occupy little hands during long waits. Extra helpful at restaurants!

As a person who goes through a lot of coffee, I appreciate the old fashioned tin cans that are still available! We use these all the time for painting and water play.

Cut a piece of paper to size, add some paint and small round objects. Add the cover. Have your child roll it down a hill or kick it around the yard. Instant art project!

When you’re done, add some water and soap and play again! Now your can is clean!