Upcycling Crafts for Kids: Easter
We’ve partnered with Tracy Williams from the Howard County Recycling District, on a series of fun crafts that encourage upcycling items that may be recycled or mistakenly thrown away at your house. Here you’ll find photos and step-by-step instructions for a simple craft you can create together with your family. This craft was inspired by an article by Gina Bell from East Coast Mommy and took us about an hour to make (allow extra time for paint to dry).
TKP Photo | Alli Lee
Supplies You’ll Need:
An empty long box of tissues
White craft paint and brush
Cardstock or construction paper for ears
Sharpie Marker or Writing Utensil
Two pipe Cleaners (color of your choice)
Adhesive (we used sticky dots and tape)
Googly Eyes
A cotton ball or pom pom
Box cutter or Scissors with Adult Supervision
TKP Photo | Alli Lee
Paint your Bunny
This will be the biggest part of the craft process. You’ll need to coat the tissue box with extra paint to cover any designs on it.
Pro-tip: Extra paint means extra waiting time to dry. You can use a quick drying paint or grab the hairdryer to speed up the process.
Once all sides are painted and dry you can complete your bunny. You can multi-task and do something else while the paint is drying (maybe play hide and seek or hop like bunnies). This would also be a great time for a snack. Don’t forget to clean your paint brushes!
TKP Photo | Alli Lee
2. Cut out your Bunny Ears
We love cutting and pasting crafts! Learning to cut with scissors and use a glue stick are basic skills that come with lots of fine motor skills practice. I traced the shape of the ears for my son and he cut it out.
We did the same thing with the interior part of the ears (pink paper) and used a glue stick to adhere the inner ear on the white card stock. These will then adhere to the bunny box by creating a short tab at the bottom of the ears. This little fold will give you a place to be able to glue or tape the ears to the box.
TKP Photo | Alli Lee
3. Make your Bunny Face, Ears and Tail
Once the bunny is dry you can begin adding its features. Bunnies have eyes, a tiny nose with whiskers, ears and a cute little cotton tail.
You can draw a nose and whiskers on the front of your tissue box using a sharpie marker and add the eyes above them. With a simple bit of adhesive you can place the ears on the top of the box near the face. (Our ears were a little heavy and needed extra tape to keep them upright) Then simply stick the tail on the side of the box that is opposite the bunny’s face.
TKP Photo | Alli Lee
4. Make it into a Bunny Basket
Once your bunny has all of its features you can add your handle with pipe cleaners. Before this you’ll want an adult to cut two slits beside the opening of the tissue box so you can add your handle. We used two pipe cleaners and tied them into a knot at each end so they wouldn’t pull from the box as easily. We stuck them into the slits and secured them with tape on the inside of the box. While they aren’t the best baskets for carrying lots of Easter eggs (It can probably hold 3-5 candy filled eggs), they sure are cute and a lot of fun to make from many basic items we had at home.
Remember if you had scrap paper leftover from this craft, that it can be recycled!
Photo Provided | Howard County Recycling District
Tracy Williams, Education Coordinator of the Howard County Recycling District, shared why we should consider an alternative to plastic grass in our Easter baskets or decorations:
"Plastic grass can be harmful to pets and wildlife when consumed. It is also harmful to the environment because it doesn't degrade and can't be recycled. Instead, try colorful shredded paper that can be recycled or composted, or a fabric liner that can be reused over and over again."
We’d love to see how your bunny baskets turn out! Tag us on Facebook or leave a comment below about your favorite family upcycling crafts. What should we upcycle next?
