Since the Minnesota weather has most of us hiding inside, this is a great time to explore some indoor activities from Rethink Recycling. There are many ways we can explore and teach our family members about waste reduction and recycling. Here are a few projects for you and yours to try!

Reuse food jars to get organized
Reuse sauce and jelly jars to hold your little toys, game pieces and coins.

• Supplies:

Clean, empty glass or plastic jar and their lids
Craft items - felt, pom poms, paint, pipe cleaners, old puzzle pieces, wiggle eyes, etc.
Craft glue

• Instructions:

1. Remove lid from jar
2. Line the top of the lid with glue.
3. Decorate the top of the lid with your favorite craft items.
4. Fill the jar with whatever knick knacks, toys, or coins that you like.
5. Return the lid to the jar and proudly display in your family room.

Magazine and book holder
Don't throw away your kids' old cereal boxes and art projects from school--turn them into attractive magazine and book holders for their rooms.

• Supplies:

Empty cereal box
Scissors
Craft glue
Kids school coloring or art projects (made from paper)

• Instructions:

1. Cut off top of cereal box. Halfway across top of box, cut at a 45 degree angle down to front of your magazine or book holder, cut straight across then back up other side at the same angle.
2. Glue your kids' coloring masterpiece or art work to the outside of the cereal box.
3. Place your favorite magazines or books in your new holder!

Make a trash art mural
Using colorful, clean trash items that cannot be recycled, make a wall mu¬ral. Consider a theme like a rainbow, a garden, undersea land¬scape, etc. and help children identify colors, textures, patterns.

• Supplies:

Butcher paper or newsprint
Clean, colorful items that cannot be recycled, for example, food/snack wrappers, plastic straws, used wrapping paper.
Glue or tape
Scissors

• Instructions:

Arrange and secure items to paper to create your masterpiece!

Explore RethinkRecycling.com to find out what materials can be recycled in your area. You can recycle your plastic and glass jars and your magazine holders when you no longer need them. We've posted a recycling quiz that you and the kids can take together and you can share additional ideas with other readers in our comments section below!