Upcycling Ideas For Kids

In this post we will be talking about different upcycling ideas for kids. What better way to introduce and promote upcycling than to start with the future of tomorrow. As we have gone through in previous posts regarding benefits of upcycling and upcycling vs recycling, the personal and environmental impact upcycling could make on the planet is huge. Therefore, why not introduce upcycling to your children. Children of tomorrows world will then understand the current planets problems and help them learn many new skills which they can use as they learn and grow into adulthood. Here are a couple of reasons why it would be a great idea for your kids to start upcycling:

Upcycling Ideas For Kids – Lifelong skills

There are a massive amount of lifelong skills for kids to learn through the medium of upcycling. You may have heard many adults saying such things about DIY wishing they could do this, that and the other. A great opportunity for kids now more than ever is to learn these crafts and skills to take into adulthood. Whether it’s using tools, working in the garden or learning crafting skills such as sewing. It’s a fantastic way for kids to learn these amazing lifelong skills. Have a look at this blog post which shows the many skills children can pick up from learning DIY/craft/upcycling hobbies.

Upcycling Ideas For Kids – Getting kids off screens

We think one of the best reasons for kids to start upcycling is to reduce screen time. As all parents in this day and age will know kids are addicted to there screens right now whether it’s a games console or youtube. An absolutely amazing way to reduce this is to start upcycling. Upcycling is a hobby many kids would love to start as it’s very hands on and allows creativity. This type of learning can massively interest kids who have a learning tendency in these areas. Enabling creativity such as this will even allow themselves to come up with upcycling ideas for kids.

Upcycling Ideas For Kids – Environmental impact

There may be parents who wouldn’t introduce topics such as this to children at an early age. However, there is no disputing that the throwaway culture we live in is not good and upcycling is a great way to reduce the waste. Not only that but also upcycling is a great way to learn about saving money and tips like that they can take into adulthood. On the other hand, some parents would believe it is okay to introduce the topic of the environment to enable their children to understand more about how the world works and the struggles we currently face.

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A great little upcycling project for kids.

Things to Upcycle

There are countless upcycling ideas for kids to get into upcycling. Also, there are many upcycling ideas for kids which you can supervise with as a parent or use as a teaching exercise. If you are unsure about your kids using certain tools and anything electrically powered then there are workarounds. For example, as the parent you could do the methods such as drilling, using a sewing machine or orbital sanding. These are all clearly determined by your own parental decisions and the age of your children.

As we have said before anything in the world can be upcycled. It’s all about the creativity which you can apply to any product at the end of its life in order to recreate a new purpose or bring back to its original life. Whether you have a pallet you want to paint or some old clothes you want to upcycle into new clothes or accessories, you can do anything!

Examples of things kids can upcycle

For example, an upcycling project your child might enjoy is something which they can do like painting or sticking things. This could be as part of a pallet project you are working on or you may have some materials ready that can be stuck together and created into an amazing piece of artwork.

Another one of the upcycling ideas for kids is the development of masks during the current COVID-19 siuation. There is no better time for you and your kids to start working with fabrics and maybe make some masks for your local community. This will be a great way to give back to the local community but also encourage you and your children to work together on something they could wear that is stylish. This will hopefully reduce the fear of wearing masks and the scary outlook that gives us all let alone children.

Some kids doing crafts. (nps.gov)

DIY Projects for Tweens

If your child is that little bit older and can potentially start learning more and gaining more experiences there are many DIY project ideas for tweens. Older tweens are definitely capable under supervision using different tools and this widens the types of projects they can try. For example, there is no reason why some older tweens couldn’t start to begin sanding by hand and painting furniture. As long as all relevant PPE and manufacturers instructions are adhered to. Another example, if you are happy to teach them how to sew, is repurposing an old jumper/sweater into another piece of clothing such as a scarf, kids clothes, winter hat. Some tweens may also want to start to make their own jewellery. There are limitless ideas for upcycled jewellery which tweens can make and show off to their friends.

An upcycled bracelet made from curtain rings and japanese newspaper by Indie bands with a mission.

Summer Projects for Tweens

Although it has been a very odd summer, with the restrictions on some of our holiday plans, what better to keep your tweens occupied than upcycling. The summer is a great time for upcycling as it allows for many upcycling activities outdoors. Tasks such as painting and anything which needs time to dry are the best in the summer months. This allows for lots of upcycling projects to make a start with. As we said earlier one of many great upcycling ideas for kids is jewellery making. Anything from necklaces to bracelets can be made with literally any materials.

Another summer project for tweens is to make a shopping tote bag from an old t-shirt. This is a nice project for tweens to make use of their old clothes and also have a fashionable bag they can use for when they go shopping with their friends.

A t-shirt made into a shopping tote bag by Sara Thompson.