We are all becoming more and more conscious about being sustainable, looking after our planet and teaching our little ones to do the same. The importance of reducing, reusing and recycling is an important message to share, particularly with the next generation. In this blog, we share 5 ways to repurpose our leftover EYR packaging and teach children about the three Rs in a fun and engaging way.
1. Wrapping Paper
Children can design and colour their own wrapping paper by repurposing the brown paper packaging from the boxes! Why not try the following activity ideas:
- Turn this creative activity into fine motor practice! Encourage your little ones to use tweezers to dab pom poms into paint and splodge them onto the paper.
- If it’s not for a seasonal gift, why not provide your little ones with a theme for them to follow with their creations!
- Ask your little ones to think about the person for whom the gift is for. Can they think of their favourite colours and things to add to the wrapping paper?
2. Scavenger Hunt
By cutting out a template from the cardboard box you can task your little ones with findings certain objects in their environment. Why not try the following…
- “That’s not my…” Cut out a rectangular piece of cardboard and then cut out the centre in the shape something they like for example a bee. Children can then hold up the outline to various backgrounds and develop their communication and language skills by explaining why “that’s not my bee, it’s too…”
- Alternatively why not cut out a frame from the cardboard and challenge your little ones to find “something green”, “something with flowers” and describe what they can see within the frame
3. Mini Golf
What better way to spend a rainy afternoon than constructing a little putting station from cardboard boxes? Your little ones can get creative in their designs and practice their hand-eye coordination in this physical development activity!
- Instead of making one putting hole why not make several with different colours. Then ask your little ones to put the correct coloured balls into the holes for a fun sorting and matching activity
- Alternatively why not number the holes and ask your little ones to aim for particular numbers or even make it more challenging and ask children to calculate 1 + 2 and aim for that figure
4. Puppet Theatre
Using our large or small boxes, children can construct either a mini table top puppet theatre for finger puppets or a large stand-alone puppet theatre for hand puppets! This activity will provide children with:
- A means to act out their favourite stories to improve their storytelling and communication skills
- An opportunity to embellish existing stories or create their own tales and explore their imagination and language skills
5. Washing Machine
Finally, why not use your boxes to create a prop for imaginative play setups – a cheap and versatile alternative for your little ones’ play corner! Simply cut a partial hole in your box for the washing machine door and decorate accordingly…
- Children will have the opportunity to act out “real-life” scenarios such as washing the clothes. This gives children a better understanding of the world around them
- By adding more boxes – children can create a full home corner to accompany their washing machine
The possibilities to repurpose your EYR packaging are endless and we would love to see how you get creative reusing and recycling our boxes and paper. Tag us on social media or use the hashtag #ExploreWithEYR!
