Total Time 1 hour Ages all-ages
Transform recyclables into model towns of dreamed-up dwellings.
What you'll need
- Large paper grocery bags
- Markers and crayons
- Newspaper
- Scissors
- Glue stick and/or double-sided tape
- Construction paper and poster board
- Old magazines and catalogs
- Toilet paper tubes
Helpful Tip:
The buildings can be purely imaginative, like a fantasy dream house, or based on your actual town or neighborhood (making it a fun project for a classroom, troop, or church group).
How to make it
- Start with 2 flattened grocery bags for each building. (If your bags have logos printed on the sides, you can create a plain surface by taping a brown paper sheet over the housefront, or by carefully cutting apart the bag, turning it inside out, and taping it back together.)
- Decorate one of the bags by drawing in windows and doors, coloring in bricks or clapboards, and adding distinctive touches like cutout flower boxes and creeping ivy.
- When the basic drawing and coloring are complete, stuff the second grocery bag with crumpled newspaper. Now open the decorated bag and slide it on top to create a six-sided block.
- Cut out, fold, and glue or tape in place shutters, doors, and stairs from colored paper. Add pictures of people, pets, and other images cut from magazines.
- Top off the house by cutting out a poster-board roof and gluing or taping it in place. For a crowning touch, add a chimney fashioned out of construction paper or a toilet paper tube.
