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Have you ever wished you could climb inside a story? What type of story would you choose and which characters would you like to hang out with? Can you imagine what it would be like to live on a desert island, in the middle of the jungle, or on a boat sailing around the world? All you have is there with you – you can’t pop to the shops, or make a purchase online.
Your challenge this week is to imagine that your wish has come true – and you have to use the resources you’ve already got around you. Ah and you’ve just remembered it’s your friend’s birthday! What are you going to do? You’ve guessed it … we’re thinking ‘upcycling’! Creatively re-using our waste and helping care for our planet at the same time! Can you make a birthday card for a friend – cut up an old magazine, make a modern art mosaic pattern, or their initials, or their age? Use sweet wrappers to make a collage? Copy a cartoon or character from your favourite book? Make a ‘camo’ card coloured in greens and browns – or pink and orange? Maybe make a stash of birthday cards for your family to use over the next few months? Or how about making your friend a personalised pressie – a jar full of … jokes … or dares … or riddles … or funny quotes from a book you both like?
It’s Father’s Day next week, if you’re looking for ideas - how about a jar full of lovely promises – maybe one a day for a week?! You could promise to read him a favourite story or poem; help him choose his outfit; lie down on the grass and look for shapes in the clouds together; bring him a nice cold drink and some slices of apple when he is working; or walk barefoot on the grass together! You’ll need an old jar with a lid and some scrap paper for your promises. Decorate the jar and your promises, fold them up and pop them in the jar so he can open one a day!
Some grown-ups are also getting creative to help our environment – using their skills to help members of their community fix or repair broken items. Several thousand ‘repair cafés’ have opened up around the world – maybe you can find one near where you live? Repairing items helps protect our planet by reducing new raw materials, energy use, carbon emissions and pollution. New laws now require manufacturers to help their consumers to repair items by making spare parts available. Learn more about Repair Cafés, and this upcycling project ‘The most beautiful rubbish you’ll ever see!’
Remember to HIT THE RED BUTTON when you have had fun letting your creative juices flow and made a really personal card or gift instead of popping to the shops!
