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

A few years ago I shared some pumpkin themed sensory activities for kids, but I wanted to get a little more general and do some fall sensory ideas that can take you from Halloween al the way to Thanksgiving.

Playdough is a classic sensory activity, especially if kids can help make it, too. These playdough recipes from The Montessori Twin Mama are fall colored and scented with cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and apple pie spice (I honestly don’t know what the difference is!). Or try this fun maple playdough from Happy Toddler Playtime.

Throw together some cookie cutters, googly eyes and other fun things to make an easy fall playdough tray (similar to what I did on this Halloween playdough activity).

How about some fall themed slime? Natural Beach Living gave a basic slime recipe a fall twist with food coloring and glitter. Leaf shaped sequins make it even more fun. Little Bins for Little Hands also has a cinnamon slime, which is great for fall but can also carry you all the way through Christmas.

Raising Wild Things Sensory has some great easy to make fall themed sensory bottles, which you can add fall things to, or pompoms or whatever kind of I spy items you might want to include. They also have a fun apple moon sand sensory bin that has me wondering if you could add something scented to moon sand (I always hated the smell!).

And of course there are all kinds of sensory bins you can make for fall. I like this apple picking one from Happy Toddler Playtime that uses fake leaves and little apple toys. It has the added challenge of trying to pick the apples up through a mesh of branches — kind of like a low-tech game of Operation!

You can also do a short-lived sensory bin with real leaves, or use any kind of beans, brown rice, oats or lentils to make your base. Some more great ideas can be found at Fab Everyday. Their post includes some specific Halloween and Thanksgiving themed sensory bins, too.

Have you read?

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