1) Use it as packaging to send something to someone else!
The Green Kid Crafts kits come in ziplock resealable bags. Blow a puff of air in there and you’ve got the perfect cushion for getting valuables through the mail. Include a recipe card inside with a recipe for making ice cream in that very same bag! (See #2) The bags are food safe, so reusing them for snacks or other food items is a no-brainer.
2) Zip-lock baggie Ice Cream!
It’s simple, it works, it’s delicious! This is a fun way to pass the time waiting for the sun to go down, or the paint to dry, or the rain to stop. We got the recipe from 2 Little Hooligans, one of our favorite blogs.
Recipe:
2 Tbs sugar
1 cup half&half (or heavy cream)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup coarse salt
Ice
pint-sized ziplock (or your GKC kit bag)
gallon-sized ziplock
Directions:
Put ice and salt in the bigger bag.
Combine the other ingredients in the smaller bag and seal it.
Put the smaller bag inside the bigger bag.
SHAKEY SHAKEY SHAKEY
It takes about 10 minutes to make delicious refreshing ice cream.
Consider rinsing off the smaller bag with cold water to get rid of as much salt as possible before you open it to avoid getting salt in your ice cream.
3) Cold packs
There are three easy options that are easy to hide in the back of the freezer until the next bonk or owie needs some attention. Choose one of the options below and freeze.
• frozen sponge
• gel pack with dish soap
• gel pack with 1 part alcohol+2 parts water
4) No-mess finger painting
Add two colors of paint to your plastic bag (works best using smaller amounts of paint). Tape it to a window or other flat surface and you’ve got a fun sensory experience. If you hang it on a vertical surface at eye level, this promotes shoulder strength and postural support as well as developing fine motor skills.
5) Sensory Tracing Pad
Fill your plastic bag with hair gel. Print out or draw your letter of the day and tape it all down to the table. Using their little fingers or a soft implement, kiddos can trace the shape over and over.
6) Personalized Gift Bags
This can be as simple or as complex as you have the skill level to make it. Drop the gift or treats in the bag, fold it over, and staple some paper over the opening. This is an easy one to make into a holiday-themed project,
party favors, or trick or treat options for Halloween!
7) Fly Repellent
Did you know that flies hate plastic baggies full of water and pennies?? If nothing else, it’s another way to entertain yourself and your kid by hunting down pennies, counting them, and plopping them into a bag full of water.
8) Snow Globe Craft
No snow where you live? That’s okay! Make it an “under the sea” globe, or a “falling leaves” globe for a fall craft, or cut out pictures of your little one’s faces and make a “grandkids” globe to gift to the doting grandparents. Cut the center out of a paper plate. Cut up some paper scraps or make your sea creatures. Blow a puff of air into the bag and put your little guys inside and seal it up. Use a few dots of glue to hold the bag in place against another paper plate. Staple the plate with the hole in it over the bag onto the other plate. Decorate. SHAKEY SHAKEY SHAKEY.
9) Car/airplane Cellphone Holder
Need to occupy yourself and/or your favorite travel partner but don’t want to hold up your phone forever while you watch that episode of Dinosaur Train ONE.MORE.TIME? Pop it in a bag and chip clip it to the back of the seat in front of you. Plug in your headphones and you’re on your way to as much mindless entertainment as your battery will allow!
10) Storage
Kids accumulate tons of stuff. Just things. Lots of little things. I love using the Green Kid Crafts boxes for storing things like our crayons or rock collection. They are the PERFECT size for about 20 matchbox cars and the bright green printing on the outside is fun and decorative.
11) Construction Material
Keep cardboard on hand and you’ll always have a great way to burn sometime between naps and bedtime. Just find a comfy place to sit down and start taping the boxes together. Bring out the stickers and markers and everyone can get in on the DIY action. Build a marble run, or a parking garage with ramps, or an obstacle course for your action figures.
12) Busy Book
This is one of our favorite ways to reuse the plastic baggies our projects come in! You can substitute the pages easily to keep them interesting. It’s cheap, it’s easy, it’s wipe-downable. Simply cover the closed end of the bag with your tape and punch holes in line with the tabs in the folder. Simply cover the closed end of the bag with your tape and punch holes in line with the tabs in the folder.
You’ll need:
A folder with brad-style closures
Tape (duct or masking work well)
Hole punch
Bags
Page ideas:
Letters
Counting
Spelling
Vocabulary practice
Pictures of the family
Dry-erase tracing
Dry-erase tic tac toe
Sure, these ideas are the eco-friendly responsible thing to do, but conservation can be downright fun!
By guest blogger Kristen Beer of With a Grain of Salt
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This is useful and informative post. Thanks