I love Earth Day. It just so happens that it falls on the Friday before Easter this year. So, I decided to do an Earth Day craft with the kids a little bit early to separate the two holidays and spread the fun out a little bit.
Using some wheat grass and some recycled materials, I came up with:
Isn’t he cute?
His buddies are too…
They are made of about 90% recycled materials, and are so fun to make.
Here is what we did…
I just took some tin cans, removed the labels, and pounded some holes in the bottoms. I used a screwdriver and a hammer. We use only the best tools around here. 🙂 Ha.
It is best to hammer the holes on a stable area that can absorb the shock of the hammer blows. Such as carpet {what we used} or the grass outside.
Then I rounded up some recycled supplies. Well mostly. The pipe cleaners are -thankfully- new.
I try to hang onto scraps of felt for projects such as these. So that is where my ‘recycled’ felt is coming from.
We also used a hot glue gun {not pictured}. We as in…my kids pointed to where they wanted me to glue stuff and I glued everything.
We used pieces of cut out of a plastic sour cream lid for the eyes, twisty ties for my guys’ glasses, bread cinchers {what are those things called?} for ears or mouths. It was fun to play around with the possibilities.
We used the shoes from our Mr. Potato Head set. Not recycled but close enough – we are re-purposing them temporarily right?
The shoes help them look more complete and they allow the water to drain from the bottom more easily when you water their hair.
Speaking of watering hair. Once we got our guys looking how we wanted, we gave them some nice green, grassy hair.
Click here for the tutorial on how to grow wheat grass. It takes about a week to grow it and is a fun kid project in and of itself.
Take your ‘rug’ of wheat grass out of the tray… take some heavy duty scissors.
And snip the grass into can size chunks. Plunk them into the cans and ta da!
You have hair.
For my can which was taller, I took a sour cream lid, cut it in half and shoved both pieces into the bottom. This elevated the grass so you could see it better and it still allows water to drain so it won’t grow mold.
And here they are, all finished!
A handsome group of guys, if I say so myself.
Like my boys, your kids or you :), may want to give them a hair cut.
This project was such a hit with my kids.
The loved playing with them, naming them weird names I can’t pronounce, and chatting it up with them…
And they love watering it everyday too.
Just soak it with water once per day. Let the excess water drain out and set it back on those cute little shoes.
The crazy thing is that the hair keeps growing! In fact, our guys are due for another hair cut pretty soon here. The fun just keeps on going!
I have one more wheat grass project for you. Hopefully I can round it up before this weekend.
U R such a fun mom with boys… LOVE IT! super cute creative idea. WINKS- jen
So cute!
So fun and cute!
totally cute project!
i call them twisty ties 🙂
Just Better Together
Holy Crapola! Those are so dang cute! Can you be my mom? 😉
Your ideas are the best. The big one should be named Tobias. (idk if you are an arrested development fan, but it looks just like Tobias in the episodes where he had hair plugs!)
Such fun! My boys are a little young to appreciate this, but I'll be sure to keep it in mind.
these are super cute. very mr.-potato-head-meets-a-chia-pet!
Loved the way your project turned out. I would like to try your tutorial on growing wheat grass. Could you tell me where you buy your wheat. Is there a big grocery chain (Whole Foods?) where I can buy them. I see them at several places but I'm not sure if they are unprocessed yet and will sprout. That's the reason I have never been able to try this.
Mr. Recycle Head Man is so charming! Sooooo cute
ha! this is great!
I totally love this! The kids would too. Must add it to our to do Fun list!!!
Thanks.
this is probably one of the coolest craft projects i've seen yet! very creative 🙂
Love at first sight! These turned out great! I linked this to my Tin Cans Up-cycled post.
Great tutorial on growing wheat grass as well!
http://brainstorminbloom.blogspot.com/2013/03/tin-cans-up-cycled-csa-bouquet-of-ideas.html
Congratulations! I featured one of your printables in this post
http://bestlifemistake.blogspot.com/2013/04/earth-day-activities.html
Please stop if you would like and grab an "I've been featured" button to display on your blog!
This is such fun! I am going to share in on my Facebook page today!
Hello! 🙂
I am a university student in Melbourne, Australia – and am studying Primary and Special Education.
I am currently creating a Science Resource Folder and I have absolutely fallen in love with this!
Would it be okay if I used your idea in my folder? It fits in very well with Foundation level Science about learning about living things and their needs – and definitely fit in with the idea of sustainability as well 😀
I will of course reference you and your website if it is okay.
I just think it is a fantastic idea! This is absolutely brilliant 🙂
Hi Sharon!
Of course. Thank you for asking! Best of luck with your project!
Delia