Agnes Hsu - Recycle and Play: Awesome DIY Zero-Waste Projects to Make for Kids

Did you know that young children learn while playing? Play is a crucial part of a childs cognitive development and is fantastic for exploring senses, building creativity, and discovering how things work.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, play is important because it helps the mental, physical, and social well-being of a child. Its also a wonderful way for parents to engage with their children and encourage early learning.

This book is about playing and learning with your kids. Its about having fun through creative process-oriented projects and not worrying about having the perfect craft material on hand. Thats why youll only find common recyclable household materials here such as paper tubes, cardboard, plastic bottles, egg cartons, and lids.

The Harvard Graduate School of Education notes that play comes in many different forms. There is social play with others, independent play during which kids make-believe or play with various toys, and guided play where children play in the context of a scene parents have set up. Although the projects here do have a guide toward a finished activity, we hope that our instructions are loosely guided tools for you to create, play, and learn with your child. Also, we invite you to set up invitations with the projects made by adding resources readily available at home to provide a richer learning experience. An example would be to make a box maze with a different configuration or provide sensory items like colored dyed rice or beans to our egg carton truck for additional play.

In this book, youll find the focus is not on a finished craft but on the process of building a meaningful project with many learning iterations you can add on your own. We offer tips on how to extend play and learning for each project. But the possibilities are endless, so we encourage you to engage with your kids to come up with fun additions.

By using recyclable materials, weve also tried to keep this book accessible, low-cost, and no-waste so families can focus on creating and get started right away. Although we provide a framework for projects, they can be adjusted to your childs interest. Instead of a seal ball-and-cup paper tube game, why not create a shark if your child likes them better than seals?

Ive combined my decade of experience as a mom and creative to bring you these unique and playful recycled projects. I know these activities will lead to precious bonding time with your kids but will create wonderful learning experiences, too. Happy playing and learning!

Find more playful, creative learning projects at www.hellowonderful.co.

SAFETY NOTE These projects are meant for parents to create to play and learn with their children. All activities require adult supervision. Parents or adults should be the only ones operating craft materials such as sharp scissors, craft knives, or hot glue guns.