Book Review: Upcycle It! Crafts for Kids

Crafty pro Jennifer Perkins offers lots of ideas for crafts kids can make with materials that would otherwise be on the way to the trash or recycling bins in her book Upcycle It! Crafts for Kids.

The book covers the basic supplies you need to get started making upcycled crafts as well as some of the happy trash you might want to start collecting in order to make the projects.

In all there are 25 projects organized by theme including items for organizing your space, decorating your room, school supplies, adding a personalized touch to objects and making gifts.

There’s a lot of fun stuff here, from a lamp made out of a green plastic bottle to DIY food wraps to a picture frame covered in tiny toys.

The projects are rated for kids 8-12, but there are things even older kids might benefit from being supervised with. Younger kids could also make some of these projects (stamped fabric bags or a T-shirt rug, for example) with help from parents with cutting.

My daughter is 12 and while she has made projects similar to some of these before, I think she’d have a lot of fun with these ideas and be able to do a lot of them herself. Whether with a parent’s help or crafting solo, these fun ideas are sure to get kids a little more interested in what’s going into the recycling bin and how those items can be creatively reused.

About the book: 114 pages, 25 projects, paperback. Published by Rockridge Press March 2022. Suggested retail $12.99

Next Plan Idea:

Upcycled Crafts to Make for Earth Day

Learning about Hanukkah is important for people of all faiths as a reminder that December isn’t just about Christmas and that their are many other important holidays that happen during this time. Hanukkah unit studies can give you ideas for incorporating the holiday into your holiday studies that happen in December, or to use at home for learning about people of different faiths.

Homeschool Superfreak has a lot of basic ideas for how to build a Hanukkah unit study, as well as FAQs about what Hanukkah is and why it is celebrated. This list is a good stargint point but doesn’t include all the details you’ll need. For example it says you can play the dreidel game but doesn’t explain how to do that or why it’s important. (If you need that information, this post from Mama Smiles is a good source.)

Teachers Pay Teachers has lots of great lesson plans and activities if you’re willing to pay a little bit to get some good content. Two I really like are this Hanukkah PowerPoint presentation from Shelia Melton, which provides a good overview of traditions, food and the history of Hanukkah; and a virtual field trip to Jerusalem from MagiCore, which includes lots of videos showing the city and activities like playing dreidel, drawing a menorah and making latkes. It’s a Google Drive folder and also includes writing activities and more for kids in second to fifth grade.

Kids Activities Blog has some simple printables with facts about Hanukkah and things kids can color in like a Star of David, sufganiyots (jelly doughnuts) and a menorah. These are great for learning the basics.

Homeschool Giveaways has a printable ebook about Hanukkah complete with questions kids can answer after they read. This would be a good one for older kids with good reading comprehension.

NurtureStore’s Hanukkah unit study includes a printable mini book, tons of crafts, as well as math and writing activities. I love the dominoes game that’s part of the unit.

And check out our previous posts for more Hanukkah crafts and learning activities!

Next Plan Idea:

Have you read?

Leave a Reply