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Several years ago I worked with mentally challenged adults. We collected waste materials from local businesses and industries which could be used for many different crafts. A few examples: red film from printers, thin wire from the telephone company, empty film cannisters from photo labs, books of wallpaper samples from decorators, paper cutoffs from printers. Our store had thousands of different craft items and attracted people from far and wide. We sent an annual shipment to California every year for a big kid's fair.

On Saturdays we did children's crafts at the center. People came with their kids to spend a few hours making kites or masks or puppets. As we became well known locally, schools would call to ask us to come to the annual picnics to do workshops, or spend a whole day in a school doing crafts with the kids. The people I worked with loved these events, and I had no shortage of volunteer helpers.

A few of our favorite crafts were:

1. Puppets...I made a simple pattern, something like a gingerbread man that would fit on a child's hand, then sewed hundreds of them. We'd take along an assortment of colors, lots of wool for hair, buttons for eyes, scraps of fancy fabrics, anything that could be sewn or glued to the puppet body. I noticed that little boys, reluctant at first to do something "girly" often had to be coaxed away from the table by the teachers, and certainly showed plenty of creativity.

2. Kites...We used all kinds of scraps of balsa and thin dowels for the frames, colored plastic film from florists or from our own shop where wedding pompoms were made, yarn and ribbon, good strong glue or thin wire. Dads and moms were encouraged to help the kids design their kites, then we flew them in the meadow. Great times!

3. A favorite at all the workshops: marble painting - all you need is a few marbles, some recycled paper, poster paints, and a few cookie sheets. You put several colors of poster paint in large plastic cups, throw in a few marbles, shake.
Place paper in cookie sheets, then drop the paint-colored marbles on the paper, pick up the cookie sheets and roll the marbles to create wild designs. Repeat with other colors. Messy but a lot of fun.

4. Paper beads: the wallpaper sample books were wonderful for this simple craft.
You cut long thin triangles (6" to 10" long) which are about 1" at the wide end and taper to a point. Spread a thin layer of white glue on the back of the paper and using a thin knitting needle, wrap the wide end around the needle and roll up. Slide the bead off the needle and set aside to dry. You can make the beads as small or large as you want by adjusting the size of the paper. When dry, varnish for a shiny finish.

5. Hats... We used long strips of heavy paper from the printers to make a headband. Each band was measured to fit the child's head, then stapled in a ring. A long table held scissors, glue, sequins, streamers, pompoms, fabrics, markers, stickers, and anything else a child could use to make a fancy party hat. Many children could stand or sit at the table and we often had upwards of 50 busily making hats.

I could go on for hundreds of pages as the list of crafts you can make from recycled materials is endless. A party hit is just a long table full of material and a child's imagination. Let them make whatever comes to mind. Just make sure there's plenty of scissors and glue and brightly colored paper, ribbons, buttons, wool. You'll be amazed at the results.

Learn more about this author, Carolyn Paradis.
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