Fun With Paper Bags: Creative Crafts for Kids

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Recycle Those Paper Bags!

Hold it! Don't toss those perfectly good paper bags. Hang onto the plastic grocery bags, too. They're perfect for crafts, and what better way to teach recycling than to offer them to your children and grandchildren? Given the chance, most kids are creative and eager to re-use paper products, fabric scraps, cardboard, and more. Reusing paper bags will develop creativity, foster a mindset for recycling, and encourage children to turn off the tv and make something fun for themselves or to give away as gifts.

This lens will include tested-and-tried crafts projects, classroom crafts ideas, and lots of good tips from crafters.

Enjoy!

Teach Kids to Recycle 

Practical ideas for home recycling


Set aside a special time each week to brainstorm ways your family can reuse paper bags. If you happen to be a homeschooling family, perhaps you'll come up with a unit study about paper products.

Think of Ways to Recycle Leftover Bags 

Turn leftovers into something new!

Ask a child whether she'd like pizza or Friday Surprise for lunch, and you can just about guess her response. From a child's viewpoint, Friday Surprise might conjure up images of leftovers smooshed together into an unrecognizable casserole.

Leftovers have gotten a bad reputation, but look again. Recyclables like paper bags are the very best kind of leftovers. Recycling bags is a smart way to take care of our environment while having fun together as a family. In a preschool setting, it's a super way to save money, as well as invite families to become more involved in their child's education.

Children love a good challenge, and if you catch them at a young enough age (three or four), you might be surprised at their level of creativity. Keep a good stock of art tools handy--crayons, paints, and plenty of paper. Add to it glitter, glue, rickrack, fabric swatches, markers, scissors, and scraps of colored paper, and watch those busy hands get to work.

Remember, it's all about the approach.

Spring Crafts with Paper Bags 

Fun for the whole family!

Use those paper bags for Easter and other spring crafts. Kids will enjoy recycling old brown bags into something fun and colorful.
Paper Bag Bunny Craft
DLTK's Crafts for Kids: Paper Bag Bunny Craft
Paper Bag Kite
Get ready for a breezy day by making your own homemade kite!
Paper Bag Animals
Create your own paper pets! Cute animals begin with a brown paper bag.
Paper Bag Windsocks
Catch the wind in your pretty creation. It all starts with a paper bag.

Paper Bag Ideas from Teachers 

Find out what works well in a group setting, and how teachers are using paper bags in unit studies. Fun and informative!

1. Panda unit study
2. Under the Sea theme
3. Fall Scavenger Hunt
4. Fireplace (2 brown grocery bags)
5. St. Patrick's Day Potato Head
6. Paper Bag Tree unit
7. Tactile Art



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Anytime Projects 

Paper bag crafts are year-round fun. Here are projects that don't take long, use simple supplies, and can be customized according to individual ideas and creativity level.

Big Hat Craft - Enchanted Learning Software
Make a Really Big Hat.
Paper Bag Dove Craft
Free printable templates and directions for making a paper bag dove puppet.
Paper Bag Greeting Cards
Your creativity is the only limit...
Colorful Paper Bag Fish
Here's a bright and cheery project!
Egg Carton Flowers
A fun, earth-friendly craft for kids, from supercozy.com
Paper beads
My Mom is visiting & one of the fun benefits for the kids is her excellent memory of the crafts she used to entertain me with when I was a kid in the 70's (that, and endless rounds of "Bataille"/War...

Squidooers Who Recycle Paper Bags 

Good ideas to try at home


Squidoo lensmasters are the greatest! I've selected a handful of really good lenses that will spring your creativity into full gear.

How to Reuse Paper Bags
You can reuse them. Recycle them. Turn them into something else.
Paper Bag Puppets
One of the easiest hand puppets to create is the Paper Bag Puppet.Small lunch bags,a little imagination, anda rainy Saturday afternoon......make for a great puppet making day!There is a new resurgence in interest in this time tested puppet craft. It may be due to advertising of online ticket merchan
Learn To Make Gift Baskets - The Use Of Free Printable Paper In Basketing Making
If properly made paper bag baskets & paper baskets could prove to be exciting to make. Take some colored papers, choose a nice pattern and the outcome from twisting and turning the paper would give a paper a new really tasteful appearance.
Tea Bag Folding
Tea bag folding is a paper folding craft developed in Europe. You start with eight squares or tiles and fold each the same than interlock them together into a pie or medallion using a bit of glue. It is similiar to origami in that you use all the basic origami folds such as the boat, the water bomb
Make your own greeting cards
These days we can send greetings to our friends and loved ones with ready-made cards or by email. But somehow, even though this is so easy to do, it is much more fulfilling to send a hand-made card with your own special message. Cards can be made to suit the personality of the person you are sending

What Can You Make With a Paper Bag? 

How to find ideas...

Heard of J.P. Taylor?

J.P. Taylor's music is a mellow mix aimed at inspiring you on your environmental mission.
Visit his website:

http://www.jp-taylor.com/

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Make a Paper Bag Puppet 


Christian Preschool Crafts: Paper Bag Pumpkin

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How to Make a Pinata : How to Make a Paper Bag Piñata

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How To Make A Paperbag Puppet

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curated content from YouTube

Turkey Crafts! 

FamilyFun: Paper-Bag Turkeys - and More Family Fun
These crafty gobblers will charm young holiday guests
Brown Paper Bag Card Craft - Enchanted Learning Software
Brown Paper Bag Card. Make a Beautiful card from a brown paper bag and some ribbon. Customize it for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays...
Turkey Crafts
General holiday crafts. Prepare a cornucopia at home, or make a pilgrim log cabin.

Ten Unique Valentine's Day Paper Crafts 

Other Forms of Paper Crafts for Valentine's Day

Valentines are fun to make, and fun to receive, but paper crafts for Valentine's Day can be so much more than just heart cutouts. Here are some colorful crafts from the heart.
Valentine's Day Hat
What's not to love about a cute hat for your Valentine?
Salt Dough Crafts
Make a salt dough heart pin and magnets for Valentine's Day.
Valentine's Barrettes
Make these hair barrettes for yourself or for your sweetie.
Valentine Heart Garden
Make this popup 3-D heart garden!
Colorful Heart Mobile
A great way to use paper plates!
Valentine's Day Paper Craft - How to make a Heart Gift Box
Paper Crafts for Valentine's Day - Paper Heart Gift Box.
Valentine's Day Angel Paper Craft
free printable templates and instructions for a valentine's day angel paper craft with message You Reap What You Sow.
Make a Valentine Flowers Bouquet!
Get crafty with Martha Stewart on marthastewart.com.
Heart Kitty Cat Paper Craft
Directions and printable templates for making a Valentine's Day heart animal.
Love Bug Valentine's Day Craft for Kids
Valentine's Day Crafts for Kids - You'll find lots of fun and easy Valentine Crafts for kids on this page: Valentine Cards, Valentine wall hangings, a Valetine wind sock, a Valentine mobile, and lots of other Valentine gifts.

More Ways to Recycle Bags 

What to do with those wads of plastic grocery bags...

I grew up in a household that saved nice sturdy boxes, plastic bags, large brown shopping bags, and margarine tubs. After all, you never know when one of those recyclables would come in handy, right?

Why spend money on new wrapping paper if you have a stack of bags on hand? Why buy a play mask when you could create one from a sturdy brown paper bag?

Well, most of us have grown up and discovered that too much Stuff spells stress. In an effort to simplify our lives, we have learned to either re-use or recycle. So, we've talked a bit about ways to use paper bags. What about plastic bags?

At first glance, they may seem useless, other than carrying vegetables from garden to friend, but think again. There's plenty you can do with plastic bags. Here are a few starters:

Make yarn from plastic bags!
Knit a purse
Make a dress
Cute cosmetic bag
Granny Square Motif Bag
Baggie Butterflies

Blogging About Paper Crafts 

These bloggers know what they're talking about! Check out their ideas, their photos, and you're sure to find something worth trying.

Paper Crafts Magazine blog
Join Paper Crafts editors in fun crafting projects, tips, and everyday stories of their lives.
New Life for Paper Bag Puppets
The Fandango movie ticket ads have breathed new life into the old paper bag puppet. I love it when some creative genius takes a mundane thing thatÂ’s been around for ages and makes me sit up and take notice of it again. The beauty of the puppets is that they are engaging, and yet are entirely low-tec
Stay at Home Mom & Military Wife: Craft of the Week - Paper Bag Puppets
This stay-at-home military wife features a craft every week. Here's a favorite--paper bag puppets.
MAKE: Blog: Paper craft Archives
Archive: Paper craft
August 10, 2006

Halloween Fun 

Paper bags to the rescue!

KinderArt's Fun Mask Idea
Follow the instructions at KinderArt and make your own fun mask!
FamilyFun: Halloween Craft: Paper Bag Trees - and More Family Fun
Turn paper bags into gnarled trees for a tabletop Halloween decoration; another great Halloween craft from FamilyFun.com.
- Halloween bookmarks, printable mask, activity book, treat bags.
Free Halloween printables, including bookmarks, treat bags, printable jack o'lantern mask, and printable activity book.
Making Masks for Halloween... or Anytime!
Making your own mask can be as simple or complex as you make it. Here are some suggestions for how to make a mask from paper, using a blank, shaping leather or casting with latex.
Ladybug Costume - EnchantedLearning.com
You can make a Ladybug Costume from a large paper grocery bag.
Paper Bag Mask - Halloween Arts and Crafts - October - KinderArt
Seasonal Arts and Crafts Activities, Lessons, Coloring Pages, Ideas, Recipes, Treats, Special Days and so Much More

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