Recycling Archives - JDaniel4s Mom

Slam Dunk- Fun Math Games

April 2, 2015 By Deirdre

$Slam Dunk- Fun Math Games Game made from an old detergent container.$

We have had several orange detergent containers sitting in our recycling box. It took awhile to come up with an activity I thought that could be used for and just how to decorate one of them. As I have mentioned before, we have been really working on math facts. Lately we have been playing fun math games with printables I have made like ladybug rolls and cover. So continuing to working on math facts made sense. I just needed to come up with a theme of the game and how to decorate the detergent box. Since the March Madness had just started when I put this game together, the idea of creating a basketball that could be slam dunked into came to mind.

Yes, I do know that you don’t slam dunk basketball balls into a basketball shaped container. I just couldn’t see slam dunking into a net with an orange background. (Actually maybe that would be a good idea! I will have to try it with one of the other containers.) It made more sense to decorate the container as a basketball.

$Slam Dunk- Fun Math Games Game made from an old detergent container.$

Putting The Game Container Together

Taking the stickers off the detergent container was the hardest part. After I had removed the stickers, I realized that I really didn’t need to. Rather than create the basketball right on the container, I created a construction paper basketball cutout.

Black electrical tape was used to create the basketball’s lines. It gave the ball a little bit of texture and didn’t look flat. I had thought about using paint or markers to draw on the lines, but that would have really made it look one dimensional.

The link below is an affiliate link.

I used an Elmer’s-E5010 Extra Strength Glue Stickto glue the basketball on the detergent container. It did a great job of really making it stick. I was worried that construction paper wouldn’t stick well to the plastic container.

Finally I pulled out the orange pom poms I had used to create 10 Sides Dice. They are my son’s favorite.

$Slam Dunk- Fun Math Games$

Fun Math Games

We started out by rolling the dice and then adding up the sum of their numbers. Then my son got to slam dunk that number of pom-poms. In no time at all we realized I was going to need to dig out more pom poms to solve the addition facts with large sums.

Other Game options

Your children could try to solve the addition facts and try to shoot the pom poms from further away.
They could do subtraction facts instead of addition facts.
They could slam dunk the number of pom poms needed to solve a math word problem.

$Slam Dunk- Fun Math Games : Game made from an old detergent container.$

If you are looking for other math games, you will want to check out my Early Learning- Math board on Pinterest.

$Slam Dunk- Fun Math Games$

5 Crafts Made of Recycled Materials

April 21, 2012 By Deirdre

When it comes time to craft and create, one of the best places to find inspiration is to go through your recycling bin. It is filled with cardboard boxes, soda or water bottles, egg cartons, and so much more.

I thought I would share with you some of the crafts JDaniel and I have created using recycled materials.

Soda Bottle Flower

This flower made of the bottom third of a soda bottle, muffin tin liners, a bottle cap and straw was easy to make and looks great with light streaming from behind it.

You may be thinking that you don’t remember seeing this flower featured here before and you would be right. I shared it on a guest post I did for Childhood Beckons. You can visit Childhood Beckons to see how to make this fun flower step by step.

Rained on Pictures Collage

How did we make the raindrop collage? Magazine pictures were cut and glued onto blue construction paper. Then JDaniel used a blue marker to create the raindrops over the collage.

Cardboard Garbage Truck

This garbage truck was created to go along with the book the Grandma Drove Garbage Truck, a book I featured in a Read.Explore.Learn post.

Egg Carton Lamb

This fun lamb puppet was created using an egg carton for the lamb’s body. He was featured in a guest post I did for Rainbows Within Reach as a part of an egg carton challenge.

Lorax Collage

We had fun searching for yellow and orange pictures to include in this Lorax collage. It was featured on the Quirky Momma Kids Activities Blog. I love that we even found a picture of a Lorax.

What have you been creating with recycled materials? Share your ideas or links to your creation in the comment box below.

The 2nd Annual Tissue Box Challenge

April 16, 2012 By Deirdre

We are so excited about getting to see the projects you have created! There were so many ways to approach this challenge. We have no doubt that each of your creations will be unique and special.

Here is what I came up with. It is a bear hugging a box based on the book Big Bear Hug. I will be sharing more about the book and how we used this bear-hugging box on Friday’s Read.Explore.Learn. post.

Here are the Tissue Box Challenge Rules:

Reuse a tissue box to create something fun with your children.

Create a post about your creation that includes a link to the Tissue Box Challenge or the challenge badge.

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.jdaniel4smom.com" title="JDaniel4's Mom"><img src="http://69.195.124.116/~jdanielf/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/TissueBoxChallenge2012.jpg" alt="JDaniel4's Mom" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Share your post on the Tissue Box Challenge linkup between April 16th –April 22nd.
Our wonderful judge Maggy Woodley of Red Ted Art will select first, second, and third prize winners.

What are the prizes?

The first prize winner will receive a $20.00 Amazon Gift Card.

The second prize winner will win a Plastic Bag Monster Activity Kit!

Please link your creation below!

This event has ended.

Read.Explore.Learn.- red sled Fun

February 17, 2012 By Deirdre

Welcome to Read.Explore.Learn.! This meme was designed to be a place for you to share the learning opportunities, crafts, field trips, and other activities you have done this week that tie into children’s books.

I look forward to seeing the ways you have learned with and explored books.

Steps:

- Link your activity below.

- Please place the Read.Explore.Learn. the badge on your post or create a link back to this meme.

- Please try to visit at least three of the other people that have placed links below and leave a comment. I will visit each of you and leave a kind comment.

- If you are not linking up an activity and are just visiting, please try to stop by a few of the links below.

My Book Tie-Ins of the Week:

We loved reading red sled by Lita Judge. There are very few words in this book. The pictures tell the tale of a red sled that is left outside each night by a young child. Each night the sled is borrowed by a bear who likes to go on on evening sled rides.

As the story unfolds, other creatures decide to join the bear in his sled rides until seven animals are sledding under the evening stars.

Finally, one morning the child notices bear footprints outside his house. The child decides to watch out his window to see if the bear returns.

When the bear does the boy joins the bear and his friends on a sled! ” Wheeeeee!” says the boy as he holds on to a moose antlers as the sled slides down the hill.

What did we do?

Craft-Sled Making

I built the red sled using the directions I posted in my How to Make a Cardboard Sled post last year.

JDaniel and I rolled out bubble wrap to create a path for the sled and loaded the sled with some of his lovelies.

After a few trips up and down the bubble wrap, JDaniel decided that we need to add a hill to the path and see what happened.

Poor Teddy fell off the sled and didn’t even make it up the first hill.

Read.Explore.Learn.- Curious George and Valentine’s Day Flowers

February 10, 2012 By Deirdre

My Book Tie-Ins of the Week:

There is just something wonderful about Curious George! We love him at our house. We loved Happy Valentine’s Day George too.

Curious George decides to celebrate Valentine’s in a big way for those he carries for and they with him. There is crazy cooking. There is wild decorating. There is card making with a small mess.

What did we do?

Craft- Flower Arrangement

How did I make it?

Materials:

Detergent bottle top
Decorations
Green Pipe cleaners
Buttons
Hearts cut out of tag board with holes punched at the narrow end
Styrofoam ball

Directions:

1. Decorate the outside of the detergent bottle cap.

2. Pull a pipe cleaner up through the top of a button so that it extends about three inches

3. Beneath the button push 5 hearts onto the pipe cleaner.

4. Pull the top end of the pipe cleaner back through one of the remaining holes in the bottom.

5. Fan out the hearts into petals around the button.

6. Twist the end of the pipe cleaner you pulled through around the long end of the pipe cleaner.

7. Twist the end tight enough to hold the heart in places.

8. Push the flower into the styrofoam ball.

9. Place the styrofoam fall into the detergent lid.

Adventures-In-Mommy-Land- and a Christmas Craft: An Egg Carton Tree

December 14, 2011 By Deirdre

I saw the tree below in a Christmas craft book and knew we had to make it. Once I had gathered all the materials, creating it was sort of an adventure. JDaniel wanted to play with the decorative elements and I wanted to decorate the tree. Actually, he wanted to pretend to bake a cake and decorate it with decorative elements. He really enjoyed it.

The post sharing how to make this wonderful tree is on Adventures-In-Mommy-Land today. I hope you will head over and check it out.

Tissue Box Challenge Winners!

April 24, 2011 By Deirdre

Each of the entries in the was truly wonderful. I am so glad that The Activity Mom and I didn’t have to make the choice.

We left making the choice of winner up to the amazing Maggie of Red Ted Art.

She wrote this in a note to us today:

My is it HARD to choose…. But so cool to see all the ideas!

The first prize winner is the The Three Pigs by My Oatmeal Kisses. They have won a learning kit for Time for Tots

Maggie shared that she liked how they saw a house in the “tissue box” – they propped it up and hey presto you have a basic house. She also loved it when you make nursery rhymes or stories real by creating a craft around it. I can just imagine my children playing with this and putting on a “show”.
Wonderful. (and of course, I am rather partial to the Loo Roll piggies too).

The second prize winner is The Earth Day Bird by Creativity My Passion. They have won a set of three paper back books from Tiger Tales Books.

Maggie shared that she loved how they saw the nice print on the box and converted into something wonderful – i.e. you couldn’t have made it with an ordinary box… and it is a wonderful way to look at something ordinary and see some extraordinary in it! They used the pattern and part of the box to form the new bird. It is like a Pheonix rising from the ashes.

The winner of the third prize is Sensory Box by Two Bears Farm. She will be receiving a set of board books from Tiger Tales.

Maggie shared that there were two “mystery boxes” submitted, and of course both ideas were fabulous. It was really hard to choose one over the other. But I went for this one in the end, as I thought it was fun to have the 3 different boxes to put your hands into. It is nicely decorated and the little curtain is great. I can just imagine the “excitement” of having a feel and reminds me of science days at the museum when I was
little.

Honorary Mentions

The other sensory box by My Montessori Moments

Painting with tissues boxes by Teach Preschool.
Maggie thought it was a great way for exploring art – colours and textures. It was so bright and colourful!

Rocket by Baby Brainstorm.
Maggie love it because it combined a fabulous set of recycled materials and looks brilliant!

We want to thank all who entered for sharing their super creations with us!

Welcome to the Tissue Box Challenge!

April 17, 2011 By Deirdre

We are so excited about getting to see the projects you have created! There were so many ways to approach this challenge. We have no doubt that each of your creations will be unique and special.

Here are the Tissue Box Challenge Rules:

Reuse a tissue box to create something fun with your children.

Create a post about your creation that includes a link to the Tissue Box Challenge or the challenge badge.

Share your post on the Tissue Box Challenge linkup between April 17th –April 22nd.
Our wonderful judge Maggy Woodley of Red Ted Art will select a first, second and third prize winners.

What are the prizes?

The first prize winner will receive a learning kit from Time for Tots.

The second and third prize winners will win book collections from Tiger Tales Books.

Please link you creation below!

Tissue Box Challenge Begins April 17th

April 10, 2011 By Deirdre

Do you have tissue boxes sitting in cabinets waiting to be reused and recycled? The Activity Mom and I have wonderful opportunity of for you to celebrate Earth Day, create something with your children using tissue boxes and win a prize. We are calling it the Tissue Box Challenge.

How does it work?

Reuse a tissue box to create something fun with your children.
Create a post about your creation that includes a link to the Tissue Box Challenge or the challenge badge.

Share your post on the Tissue Box Challenge linkup between April 17th –April 22nd.
Our wonderful judge Maggy Woodley of Red Ted Art will select a first, second and third prize winners.

What are the prizes?

The first prize winner will receive a learning kit from Time for Tots.

The second and third prize winners will win book collections from Tiger Tales Books.

We can’t wait to see what you create!

Red Ted Art: Time on your hands?! Review

February 5, 2011 By Deirdre

I really enjoy reading the Red Ted Art Blog every week and am super grateful that she often links to Read.Explore.Learn on this blog. The craft ideas she comes up with and the book tie-ins she frequently creates to crafts keep me hunting for great books and ways to share the ideas with JDaniel.

I was recently asked to review her new e-book Time on your hands?! 14 Fab ideas to keep you and your little ones busy throughout the whole year….. This book shows fun and creative ways to reuse cardboard tubes. She has selected crafts that would be perfect for key holidays and summer fun.

Each craft page has an overview of the holiday or season that craft was designed to celebrate along with fun tidbits about it. There is also material list, step by step directions on constructing the craft along with color photos that demonstrate how to construct it.

This book is filled with cute crafts. I love cute crafts that have an ahh factor. I don’t often come up with them on my own. This well-done book will leave you excited about crafting and comfortable about creating crafts. The step by step directions helped me to feel more confident that I could successfully complete them and the picture helped me make sure I was on the right track.

The fact that many of the materials used in the crafts are things that are recycled is another plus for me. I love being able to craft with things we already have at home. Being able to reuse in crafts is a great way for me to show JDaniel how to save things and use them again and again.

Here is a link to the e-book section of Red Ted’s Art Blog if you are interested in purchasing the book.