Reuse your Messy Play materials!

Reuse your Messy Play materials!

 

We're always working to improve our materials and packaging to reduce waste and encourage recycling and reusing. This page has some fun ideas for reusing the materials that come with your Messy Play products, plus keep your kids entertained for just a tad bit longer! #winning

Packaging:

  • Bubble Wrap: this is super fun for painting! Let your child paint on top of the bubble wrap, and then lay a piece of paper on top of the wet bubble wrap. Press down on the paper, and then lift it up- the bubble wrap will have made a cool paint imprint on the paper! You can also tape clean bubble wrap to the floor as part of a fun sensory walk if you want a less-messy activity. Let your kids pop it with their toes!
  • Boxes: Endless ideas here! Use it to store mementoes or important items. Use it to store small pieces of artwork. Use it for marble painting. Decorate the inside and use the box as a travel activity kit- roads and toy cars would be great for this, or trains, or a jungle scene and toy dinosaurs. Let your kids help choose, and make something new from each box! (Read the book "Not a Box" for further inspiration.) And of course, the boxes are recyclable if you choose not to reuse them.
  • Bags: Make colorful sensory bags! Squirt 2 complimentary colors of paint on the inside of the bag (one in each corner) and seal the bag shut. For extra safety, tape over the seal with clear packaging tape. Lay the bag on the table and let your child use their fingers to mix the paint colors together! These bags are great for practicing letter writing as well. (You can also do just one color of paint, or use shampoo or hair gel for a different texture.)

Slime Kits:

  • Liquid Starch: Keep this on hand for playing with your slime in the future! Slime tends to get sticky over time, so just add a bit more starch to help prevent this.
  • Empty bottles: So many uses for these! Use them for fun bath time play, or make a relaxing glitter timer with them, or even a homemade lava lamp!
  • Empty pipettes: these are great for building fine motor control in young children. Keep this for bath time play, or let your child explore color mixing by offering them jars of colored water and some empty jars so they can combine colors and see what happens!
  • Empty plastic jars: Collect 4 and glue them onto a toilet paper roll to make a toy car! 

The preschool I interned in had an amazing art section. The most popular area was the recyclables, where kids could dig around and find materials to use in their creations that other parents had brought in from home. I remember one student made skis using tissue boxes and wrapping paper tubes! It's amazing the creativity that kids can develop when they have the opportunity the create and explore. Read the book "Not a Box" with your child and work together to see what you can create from your next Amazon delivery, or Messy Play Kit order. There are amazing projects on the internet that show people building robots using boxes covered in tinfoil or painted silver, or giant dinosaurs, or even a playhouse! 

Another great way to reuse boxes? Fill them with old clothing and items to donate, and use Give Back Box to print a shipping label and send those items off to Goodwill or another donation site of your choice!