Make a Recycled Wind Sock

Yourwhole family can enjoy the summer breeze with this easy-to-make homemade,recycled wind sock!  Keep an eye out forleftover party and other materials after the Fourth of July; you can add orchange the streamers on your wind sock as you find new materials.

• Supplies:

Plastic margarine or other type of tub, with lid

Leftover crepe paper, party streamers, old ribbon, string or other materials

Scissors

•  Instructions:

1. Have an adult cut the bottom out of the plastic tub, then cut the center out of the lid, but leave the outer ring intact.

2. Cut your crepe paper, ribbon and other materials into 3-foot streamers.  Arrange them around the top of the tub, so that they hang down over the edge.

3. Snap the lid on to hold the streamers in place.  Then tuck 2 ends of a piece of ribbon under the lid to form a hanger.

4. Hang your wind sock outside in a place your family can enjoy it.

Make Your Own Lawn Bowling Set

Showoff your green spirit and celebrate the best of summer with your friends andneighbors over a game of lawn bowling.  Useold two-liter or 20 oz. plastic beverage bottles to make bowling pins for a fungame of lawn bowling.

• Supplies:

Three to ten plastic two-liter or 20 oz. plastic beverage bottles

Lightweight ball for a game of bowling

Optional: Stickers

Optional: Sand for weighing down the bottles and funnel for adding the sand to the bottles

Optional:  Tissue paper, leftover crepe paper or stickers for decoration

• Instructions:

1. Peel the labels off of the plastic beverage bottles.

2. Wash and dry the plastic beverage bottles. Tip: Make sure the bottles are fully dry before filling them with paper decorations.

3. If you would like to add a bit of weight to your bowling pins, use the funnel to add a handful of sand to each bottle. The sand will weigh the bottle down, making it a bit harder to knock over.

4. For brightly colored bowling pins, fill each bottle with scraps of tissue or crepe paper. Use chopsticks or other long sticks to push the tissue paper or crepe paper through the mouth of the bottle.  Add stickers for additional decoration.

5. Set up the plastic bottle bowling pins on your lawn and roll rubber or other lightweight balls towards the pins to knock them down.

Explore RethinkRecycling.comto find out which of these materials can be recycled in your area.  You can recycle the plastic bottles when youno longer need them (with the decorations removed and if they have a 1 or 2 inthe recycling symbol).  There are otheractivities and a recycling quiz that you and the kids can take together!

What other great ideas are out there?  What games and activities do you do with your kids that use recyclable or reused items?