Emma from P is for Preschooler is our guest author today and she is sharing some great repurposed craft ideas using plastic bottles!. From playing on a light table to getting outdoors and making your own sprinkler head, there are endless possibilities that the different shapes and size of plastic bottles offer!
Plastic bottles – that bane of environmentalists everywhere. And no wonder. In most cases they are unnecessary, and in even more cases, though recyclable, they are never bothered to be thrown in the recycling bin but instead tossed into a trash can where they are destined to spend 450+ years until they finally start to decompose; bottles made with Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET or PETE) will never biodegrade.
So what can we do about it? Individually, very little. The positive aspect if that if we all did very little, it would add to up to a whole lot.
Here are some simple ways to repurpose those plastic bottles that have served their original purpose – and to give them new life as something useful. I tried to stick with ideas that were simple to do, mostly because that’s what I like – simple – and because hopefully it will inspire someone else to give it a try. You may only keep a few bottles out of a landfill, but you will keep a few bottles out of a landfill – that’s certainly better than nothing!
Learn with Play at Home used these funnels and scoops made from plastic bottles to practice measuring math – and shows details on how to make your own.
Bowls of various heights can also be used for storage (crafts or workshop supplies) or even as a snack bowl.
We also used our homemade funnels, paired with cardboard tubes, to create a marble run.
The Chocolate Muffin Tree made an awesome water wall with several plastic water bottles, for fun that will last all summer.
Or how about a homemade sprinkler to keep cool, like this one from Making Memories.
What other ways can you use plastic bottles? I’d love to hear your ideas!
My name is Emma and I’m a stay-at-home mom to a 5-year-old girl. We love finding new ways to use things we find in the recycling bin! I blog at P is for Preschooler. You can find us on Facebook or Pinterest.
Don’t forget to check out other resources and crafts on the Ultimate Earth Day Guide page!
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Terrie Chapman
My girls cut the bottoms off, cover them with colorful duct tape and use them as telescopes.
Kara
That’s a great idea and so cute!
Terrie Chapman
We also cut out 2 liter bottles to catch the coffee drips from the large dispenser pot at church.
I have linked it.
Kara
That’s also a really clever idea!
Brittney Minor
Love the idea for the homemade sprinkler. I never buy bottles, so we would have to find some in order to re-purpose them. 🙂
Kara
You could definitely take one out of your neighbor’s trash. On second thought that sounds creepy and unsanitary 😉
Chrystal Johnson
Fun ideas! We don’t use a lot of plastic bottles, but mine like to put things in them and make shakers too.
Kara
We don;t either but in the instances when we happen to have one or it’s unavoidable, we love to give them the fullest, longest life possible 🙂 Shakers are always a fun activity and I have even seen some great garage organization with the oil bottles!
Amanda
I love the ideas that you came up with. We try not to use plastic tho cuz the thought of all the plastic bottles sitting in the landfill taking thousands of years (or more) to decompose makes me sick. But its nice to know the occasional bottle that we do buy can be repurposed into other things first.
Kara
We also don’t use plastic bottles, because environmentalism is such a passion for me! This creative guest post is a part of a great series for Earth Day on teaching the mainstream to care for our planet. We want to reach the non-eco-friendly be educating them to refuse, reduce, re-use, recycle.
Stephanie @ Naturally Mindful
These are fun! I like that most of them are things I can do with my toddler or for him to use. thanks!
Kara
No problem! Enjoy!
Joanthan (EcoDad)
My favorite reuse of plastic milk jugs is to make a hanging skeleton decoration for Halloween.
Kara
That sounds like a fun idea!
roechelle
The homemade sprinkler is pretty cool
Kara
We thought so too! My husband said we need to find a bottle so we can do this and not have to buy a sprinkler.
enchantedhomeschoolingmom
What fun ideas! We always have those water bottles laying around in the warmer months and now you have given me many ideas on how to re-use them (and have fun at the same time!)
Kara
I am so glad! If you come up with any other ideas, let me know. I would so love to see them 🙂
Rebekah Mick
I am all about reusing things. Thank you for some more really fun ideas for my children to use.
Kara Carrero
Glad to hear! We love reusing and recycling whatever we can too 🙂