How?
How do I deconstruct materials to make them safe & inspiring? See below for ideas and suggestions.
How to Cut Out Letters & Numbers
Letters can be found on boxes and packaging throughout your home and environment, and they are fun to manipulate after they’ve been cut out. Once you start looking for good ones, you’ll never stop! Also, you’ll soon learn which letters are harder to find than others. We suggest cutting them out with a good pair of scissors. Try to cut as straight as possible and leave as much empty space around the letters/numbers as you can. Store and sort your new treasures in a repurposed mini drawer organizer, cupcake tin, egg carton, or box!
Cross-Sections
Teaching Beyond the Square’s Materials Educator, Wendy Gelsanliter, demonstrates how to make (and play with!) cross-sections made from everyday boxes.
Surfaces
A surface brings out the qualities of the materials in interesting ways. The colors look brighter, the shapes are more defined and everything just seems more inviting. Working on a surface also has a way of elevating the work -- it defines your space and intention and sends a message to your brain that this work is important. If you don’t have a dark surface (dark cardboard, dark folder, dark construction paper, dark placemat, etc.), you can easily make a surface out of a cereal box. See below for photos and instructions:
The bigger the box the better!
Open both ends and flatten
Cut along one of the lines on the front of the box
Open up the box and cut out the front panel (cover)
Cut off the top and bottom flaps
And now you have a surface for playing, creating and building!
Recycled Paper Books
Collect a variety of paper (old calendars; old maps; business envelopes from your mail; old roll books; old plan books; sheet music; etc.), and decide how big you want your book to be (the one in the picture is 3 ½” x 5 ½”). Then cut your pieces carefully (best to use a paper cutter if you have one -- it makes such clean, precise lines on the edges). Children can choose the papers they want in their books and have you put them together or, for older children, put them together themselves. In addition to the paper, all you need is a hole-puncher and a brass fastener.
Tea Bag Overwraps
What can you do with the side strips from a tea bag’s overwrap? A lot, it turns out. In the photos below, you can see children making “presents” by placing strips on each metal ring, using the strips as connectors, incorporating strips into their design, and adding extra weight for balancing. In any case, if you are a tea drinker (or if you know someone who is) why not start saving and snipping!
Plastic Rings (from Milk Jugs)
These precious rings are hiding below your bottle or milk jug lid!
A variety of colors provides inspiration for a linear arrangement.
This 5-year-old incorporates plastic rings into her overall design.
Notice the attention to detail - how each button is surrounded by a different colored plastic tab.