Tag: recycled projects

Children’s Book Character K-Cups

Last fall, I saw a lot of cute children’s book character pumpkin projects surface all over social media!  While the pumpkin characters are/were super cute, I feel like the project limited itself to only the fall season.  With that being said, I wanted to come up with a similar project, but one that could be done ANY time of the year and with minimal cost as empty K-Cups are used as the base of the character!  AKA~ Book Character K-Ups!  How’s that for sustainability and upcycling!

Pet Based Service Projects

For many of us, our pets become part of our family and we want to love on them by giving them toys and treats! Sadly, there are many pets in need of love especially at organizations such as the SPCA, Rescue Pet Centers, and Best Friends centers. Pet Based Service Projects can be creatively included in your curriculum via labs, sewing or non-sewing projects and even repurpose projects to help those organziations. Read on to see a variety of ways to do this on the cheap!

Upcycled Wipe Container Project

Upcycling gives us the opportunity to turn items, otherwise deemed trash, into something creative and functional! And thanks to Missouri FACS teacher Amy Harkey, baby wipe lids can be repurposed into an educational child development activity! Amy shares her adapted and interactive “Upcycled Wipe Container Project” with us! Read on to see what she has her students creating!

Rattles & Infant Development

While shopping for a baby gift, I noticed the variety of rattles available for infants. There were rattles that were simple, plush, noisy, colorful, interactive, chewable and even battery operated….so many to choose from! I had a difficult time choosing one to add to my gift and it got me to thinking that new parents must feel the same way.  Do infants and babies even need rattles?  What is their role in infant development?   It was then that I decided to add a lesson and project about rattles and how they affect development to my infant unit!

Teaching About Food Waste

This is a topic I’ve wanted to teach for a long time, not only because I practice it, but think it’s an important lesson for everyone to know and implement in their lives! However, that said, I was also a bit nervous introducing this lesson because I didn’t know how my students would receive it. Would they think it interesting and practical? Would they think it old-fashioned and a thing of the past? Would they even engage? Well, I can honestly say that my students were totally with me throughout this entire lesson! They shared personal stories and examples! They embraced the topic and were quite interested in the articles and stories I had them use, as well as the projects they were assigned! In the future and for the record, I will definitely be teaching this unit again, but this time with complete confidence!

Gifts from the Hands

Some of the most cherished gifts our family has received over the years have been made by the hands of the people we love. In fact we look forward to those gifts every year as they’ve kind of become a tradition. Sometimes those gifts made with love were born out of necessity due to limited resources available to go out and purchase store bought gifts, but many times they were made and given out of love for the recipient(s) of the gift. For example, many years ago, very close friends of ours began making us a delicious candy-like treat that can only be described as “Christmas Crack” because once you start eating it, you can’t stop! We love the candy and our friends and look forward to that gift every year! After all, how can you look at, use or consume that wonderful gift without thinking fond thoughts of the talented person/people who took the time to make it for YOU! Why not teach your students how they can use their talents, time and resources to make gifts of love to give to those in their lives that they cherish most during this Christmas and Holiday season?

Little Dresses for Africa

Want an easy sewing project that help your students and school feel good too? Nancy’s Notions, a popular sewing tools & pattern store have come up with this charitable project for African children–a Pillow case re-purposed into a little girl’s dress.

Teacher of the Month: Karen Conklin

Karen Conklin has been a Family and Consumer Science teacher for 19 years and she is currently teaching middle school in central Connecticut. I had the distinct privileged of interviewing her while she was attending the Twist Craft Fair–a craft show she says is “inspiring, a place to get ideas, and keep up on the latest trends.”

Christmas Cookie Fundraiser

Another great way to teach students how to bake in mass quantity, maintain quality control, and market food attractively is to sell boxes of several kinds of Christmas cookies. My students made boxes of 3 dozen Christmas cookies including peanut butter kisses, chocolate crinkle, Russian Tea Cakes, gingerbread, sugar, raspberry thumb prints and coconut macaroons. The community generously supports the fundraiser often profusely thanking me for making their holidays easier.