Cleaning, and Then Recycling

Cleaning with my kids soon turned into a recycling and reusing activity, where we found forgotten treasures. The kids had control over what we kept, and they surprised me with a nice experience. 

Summer break often means cleaning time.

I sat down with my kids as they began "craft time," which is what they call all art/coloring/gluing/messy type activities. I wanted to clean as they played, and I wanted their input. Sometimes toy purging ends terribly, so I wanted them to take ownership in the process.

Ty found small coloring pages inside a plastic, traveling holder.

Immediately, we started having good luck. As I cleaned out their art bags and boxes, we discovered buried toys - birthday morning, almost!

We found a pile of paper plates and construction paper that I had saved because they had very few marks on them. Za grabbed a magazine and started cutting pictures and gluing them. (Lots of fine motor practice for my 3-year-old).

 
We organized and put old papers in the recycling. The kids had fun organizing, and deciding what belongings stayed or left. After we finished, I started sharpening colored pencils. Za was still dumping glue on a plate when she asked for the cup of colors I was making.

I think I remember doing something similar in school. Maybe with eraser crumbs too?

The finished project.

Za was proud that she created her own "pretty plate" and showed it to everyone who came to our house. We had fun organizing and recycling, and I attribute the lack of arguing to giving the kids power over what they kept, and what they didn't.

We Addressed the 8 Intelligences! 

Bodily- kinesthetic, interpersonal.