Published 18 July 2019 ● Last Updated on 19 July 2019

With the rains ever-so-often threatening to wash away holiday plans in Singapore, we realise that we all need to have some indoor activities planned for the times we are forced to (or choose to) stay home. While outdoor activities are our daily dose of exercise and fresh air, indoor activities allow our kids( and the the kid within us) to unleash their creative sides and try their hand at something new. (Of course, there are a lot of fun indoor games too!). 

Over the years, we’ve always liked to put our trash to good use by either recycling or reusing them – a few definitely were kept aside for ‘best out of waste’ crafts with our young ones. Here is a compilation of some of our tried and tested crafts – that turned out the way we hoped they would, rather than just pipe dreams pinned on our pinterest walls! Do your kids and you prefer the outdoors? Check out the upcoming outdoor eco-events in Singapore on Secondsguru’s curated calendar.

Waste Material Crafts: Egg Cartons

Every week, one will have one or two egg cartons that come home and eventually go for recycling. If you have a green thumb, definitely put them to use for germinating seeds as they are biodegradable and no stress about re potting the baby plant!

# If you don’t have a green thumb, worry not. You could use it to egg-cellent succulents – pretty succulents made out of egg cartons.

Egg Carton Craft - Succulent
This egg-succulent can be given as a gift too!

# All kids love imaginative play and dragons are an integral part of their dramatic stories! Learn how to make a dragon by repurposing an egg carton.

Egg Carton Craft Dragon
Make an entire dragon family for play time!

# Never too early to start planning for Christmas? Well, this could be a practice session for the final tree made by egg carton craft. Here is how you can make your own X-Mas tree using egg cartons.

Egg Carton Craft Xmas Tree
Easy to make Xmas Tree using egg cartons

Waste Material Crafts: Paper

We strongly recommend using both sides of paper – for kids colouring and scribbling activity, reuse one sided printed paper. Paper could also be used to create fun things through origami.

# Be it a birthday or festival, after any celebration there is always an excess of pretty wrapping paper lying around. Try and re-use the paper if carefully remove. And the rest can be used to try out these wrapping paper craft.

paper craft rockets
Leftover bits of wrapping paper could be used to make these rockets.

# Why buy wrapping paper when we can make our own using block printing and newspaper? An easy, quick craft using old newspaper in your home. 

Paper Crafts newspaper bag and wrapping paper
Old newspaper could be recycled and made into wrapping paper and gift bags.

Waste Material Crafts: Cork

Another regular culprit that we find lying around in our homes are cork coasters, bottle stoppers or pan holders. If you have any of these lying around, here are few craft ideas with cork.

# Old cork coasters or pan holders lying around and looking not so good – just give them a fresh coat of paint and see them lead a new life. Here is how you can upcycle cork coasters.

cork craft coaster art
‘Craft’ a new life for the overused coasters!

# Collect those wine corks and convert them into cute characters that kids can play with. Just refer to our wine bottle cork crafts compilation for more ideas. 

Cork Craft Wine Bottle corks
Make characters or creatures out of wine bottle corks

Waste Material Crafts: Toilet Paper Rolls

Who would have thought that toilet paper rolls would have a more dignified life once the paper roll on them had finished? They are great craft items and can be used to make a variety of things from wire organiser to telescopes.

# With all the excess wires that we have in our lives today, a wire organiser is pretty useful thing to have. Here is how we made a wire organiser using toilet paper rolls.

toilet roll craft wire organiser
Use toilet rolls to make a wire organiser

# Toilet rolls can also be made into great candy holders. While we tried it during Halloween, one could actually make them for any festival or even as birthday party favours. Take a look at our easy guide to making your own Halloween candy holders.

toilet roll craft candy holders
A fun way to make candy holders for any occasion

# Everybody loves a surprise! This birthday advent calendar made using toilet paper rolls is a fun activity – get the kids to make their own calendar and you could just add in the clues when the time comes and finish it up.

toilet roll craft advent calendar
Make an exciting advent calendar with clues hidden inside the toilet rolls.

DIY Games

If you want to make your own games with materials lying around here and there, we have two ideas for you.

# This travel game box has 3 games in one box– and it’s a perfect travel companion! So, follow the instructions and make your own DIY game box. Who knows, you may come up with a game or two that can be added to it!

DIY game box for travel
Make your own game box that is easy to travel with

# Create your own play area for the kids with these indoor games for a rainy day ideas. All you need is some tape and cans (and a few other things) and you have 3 indoor games ready!

DIY indoor games for kids
All you need are cans and some tape to make this DIY home bowling area

# Well, this last one is not a game – it’s about repurposing preloved games and stationery that are lying around to craft something new. Instead of just throwing away old toys, game boards or those bit of crayons, repurpose them with these wonderful ideas.

Reuse old Lego blocks
Don’t get rid of old games and stationery – use them to make something fun. Like this clock made out of old lego pieces! (Image credit: Ournerdhome)

We really hope you will try some of these crafts out and if you do, please share a photo on our FB page or tag us on Instagram.  And if you have some fun and unique ideas on best out of waste crafts, feel free to write into us at admin@secondsguru.com

Till then, happy crafting from Team Secondsguru!

Related Posts:

Mother’s Day DIY│#Repurpose common household items into useful gifts

Kids activities | Lazy summer day crafts

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