Welcome to another Wacky Workshops project – fun ways to use kids’ art.

With the world focusing on recycling to reduce waste and save our beautiful planet, it’s more important than ever to find creative ways to reuse and repurpose things.

Children who love creating – most do if offered the chance – can soon fill your home with a forest worth of crayon, marker, pencil, and paint-covered paper.

What to do with all these beautiful artworks is a never-ending challenge for parents.

These projects are a fun way to honour the effort your child put into their artworks while creating something more than a huge pile of paper that will eventually be added to the burgeoning waste issue.

PRESERVE THE MEMORIES

In my post 5 Clever and Creative Ways to use Children’s Art (which offers more great ideas to use kids’ art), I recommend taking pictures of the art before you transform it. This way, you have an everlasting record of all their beautiful projects. You could even take advantage of the many companies offering to turn your images into a book that could highlight your child’s creative journey.

According to the National Waste Report 2020, prepared for the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, around 41 per cent of paper waste is still ending up in landfills.

Clean Up Australia reported in 2007-2008 that Australian residents used 4,250,000 tonnes of paper and 1.9 million tonnes of that was sent to landfills.

It’s important to think twice before having a major clean up that could result in more paper ending up in landfills. These projects offer an alternative.

3 Fun Ways to Use Kids’ Art – The Treasure Book

I absolutely love this project as it’s sentimental but also practical. This sweet little homemade book puts all their artwork together neatly while providing little pouches to add photos, special notes, or other precious artwork. It could even be used to store something like favourite recipes and would make a wonderful gift. As a grandmother to six, I can tell you I would love to receive something like this as a gift from the grands.  (If you’re looking for other fun gift ideas using children’s art, read my post, Save with 8 Awesome Kid Art to Great Gifts Projects).

MATERIALS

• mdf board – the size will depend on the size of the paper you are using
• Children’s art
• Drill or hammer and nail
• Double-sided tape
• Craft wire
• Paint and embellishments

METHOD

• Ensure all the artwork is the same size. You may have to trim some pieces. My grands almost always use A4 paper for their projects, so this step was easy for me.
• Fold each artwork in half, short end to short end.
• Place the double-sided tape on the back of the paper, opposite your fold and on one other side, leaving the other side open to form a pouch.
• Stack the pages together with the taped edge on the left and the open side at the top and use a hole punch to create two holes along the taped side opposite the fold.
• Place the paper stack on the MDF and cut the compressed cardboard with box cutters so that it is just slightly larger than the paper stack.
• Cut another piece of mdf the same size.
• Place the stack in the centre of the mdf and mark where the holes should go in the cardboard
• Use a drill or hammer and nail to create holes.
• Use the paint and embellishments to create a beautiful cover on one piece.
• When you’re finished decorating the cover, place it on top of the paper stack with the holes aligned and adf the back cover to the bottom of the paper stack.
• Thread craft wire through the mdf and the paper stack to create your treasure book. All that’s left is to fill the little pouches with treasures.

3 Fun Ways to Use Kids’ Art – Owl or Bird Wall Art

These look so impressive as wall art and I receive many compliments for the ones I have adorning the Wacky Workshops studio walls.

The simple bird and owl shapes are easy to draw and cut out.

MATERIALS

• Thick cardboard from a carton
• Various artworks
• Scissors
• Glue

METHOD

• Draw a basic bird or owl shape on the cardboard and cut it out.
• Sort the artworks into piles of matching colours.
• Cut small tear shapes from the artworks and glue them in place on the birds, using similar colours in each section.

3 Fun Ways to Use Kids’ Art – The Art Game

This one is great to do with the kids.

I have a collection of fun projects to use as ice breakers for new students or as a backup when my art students aren’t sure what they want to create. One of the all-time favourites is the Wacky Workshops Drawing Game. It’s basically just a stack of cards with drawing prompts on them. I have the students choose a card and then draw whatever it says. Why not make your own and the old artworks to make decorative backs for the cards?

MATERIALS

• Various artworks
• Thin cardboard sheets
• Scissors
• Glue
• Pen or pencil or you can print the prompts directly onto the thin card
• Laminator and laminating sheets – optional
• A great imagination

METHOD

• Work out some fun drawing prompts – get the kids involved. This is where a great imagination comes in handy as you can come up with some crazy combinations to make the drawing challenge extra fun and funny.
• Either write or type the prompts onto the cardboard.
• Glue the artwork to the other side.
• If you decide to laminate the cards to ensure they last longer, now is the time.
• Cut out the cards and have fun playing the drawing game.

I hope these projects have inspired you to think of an alternative to throwing out the piles of artwork parents tend to accumulate.

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Happy crafting and have a gleeful week, Tamuria.