Crafting?

[LottieMary]

trying to be more eco and struggling to know what’s useful and /or possible

my 5yo loves crafting but it seems so wasteful - loves the process of making things, but that’s the joy of it it’s not like it becomes a long term toy or anything.

They are learning creative problem solving skills. If you are worried about waste do junk crafting... Let them lose on your recycling bin.

You can give her items that are otherwise destined for the bin or recycling- they can take a detour to be part of a craft project, and still end up in the bin/recycling afterwards. Eg paper / envelopes / cereal boxes are perfect craft items, as are jars, lids, bread ties etc

You could get some clay and also use natural things like sticks, pebbles, leaves, seeds etc . Think about it in terms of the value of the process rather than what’s being created and it’s really not wasteful.

You can also use natural materials like sticks tied with a natural string like twine or wool, my kids made magic wands and things like that, there's a lot of creativity with sticks and wood, and collect leaves, press flowers, things like that and then eventually they can be composted. You also could teach them to make more permanent crafts like polymer clay gifts for people, card making, fairy houses/bug hotels for the garden, knitting and crochet. Crafting is a way to learn many skills that are useful.

egg boxes seem to be the most versatile and coveted item in our house for crafting! But any recycling is great.. or obviously natural bits from outdoors.

Mainly I try to avoid glitter / slime or any of the paints that aren’t eco.

Have you got a scrapstore where you are? They are charities that take stuff destined for landfill from local companies and you can fill a huge basket for a set price. Great for crafting!!