The Internet is a wonderful place and a powerful tool for today’s society to teach children about the environment. There is no doubt that early influences can spark a lifetime of concern and participation throughout that person’s life. In today’s schools and youth organizations, there are programs dealing with recycling, environmental health, litter and other ecological programs. Younger children and arts classes make use of free materials that were formally considered waste. Schools, day care centers, kindergarten, preschool classes and other children related facilities often accept items that they can turn into craft projects for the kids.
For instance, old rolls of gift wrapping paper or wallpaper can be donated for children to use as drawing or craft paper. Boxes, paper bags, buttons, greeting cards, wrapping and ribbons, tiles and many other items can be used for art and craft supplies.To find out what they might be looking for, simply give the overseer, teacher or caregiver a call.
Egg cartons make for excellent craft supplies and can be turned into all kinds of things crafts for youth including creating a wide array of bugs that are native to your area and at the same time turning the afternoon into an educational lesson in ecology and the environment. Craft paper, or scrap paper from your office recycling bin can also be of use to youth groups as they can use the paper’s clean side for drawing. Speaking of paper, newspapers cannot consume the newsprint rolls on their machines right to the end of the roll – as such they always have partial rolls of newsprint. These long strips of paper are a fantastic resource. Magazines, even torn ones, can be used in crafts as well.
The best thing to do is call up your local school, daycare center, recreation center or youth groups to find out what they might be interested in receiving. Once you are armed with that information, it is easier to sort out and store your “donations” in boxes or bags until you can make the trip to drop them off.
