Craft Wednesday #5

{Today's craft can be found in the March 2011 issue of Family Fun magazine, or HERE online.}

Presenting the Vander Waal version of

Recycle-bots!

{Robots made from recycled goods}

What we used:

various jar/bottle lids (I've been saving these for a while, and when I started digging them out, I realized how many I have. I don't think I'll need to save any more.), aluminum cans, yogurt cups, twist ties, rubber bands, old CDs, egg carton (there are any number of options here: steel wool, bolts, washers, other recyclable containers, etc etc etc)

I also decided to throw in some of our other supplies. Just to have options. And because I like color. And I like craft projects, so I like to use stuff. :)

(ribbon, poms, pipe cleaners, beads)

Then we started assembling!

We worked together, first choosing eyes, then the other facial features. Drew struggles a bit plugging into his creative originality. He first wanted to copy what the picture looked like in the magazine, and I encouraged him to use his imagination and to use the pieces he wanted. I think he tried, but every time he saw Reed using a particular item or putting something in a certain spot, he wanted to do the same thing (Reed's robot has 3 eyes - so does Drew's). I tried to encourage him to use the same supplies as Reed, but to use them in a new way. He kind of caught on, and he then wanted to start adding everything to his robot!

(And like the cardboard cars we made two weeks ago, I used my hot glue gun to attach everything. I squirted on the glue, then let the boys attach as much as they could on their own without getting burned. I opted for the glue gun because it dries super fast. Not kid-friendly at all, but I don't think their participation lacked because of it.)

Drew's Recycle-bot.

Reed's recycle-bot.

{Reed's, Drew's, Mom's}

With all of the added flair from pipe cleaners and poms, perhaps they look more like Recyclowns than they do Recycle-bots!