A few days ago a special package arrived at our doorstep. It was a cardboard mailer with stamped pictures of adorable creatures called ScrapKins and several recycling symbols. One of the symbols caught my eye. Above it, the words read “Eat more cereal.” By now I had realized that this was the review copy we requested of the new ScrapKins Build-It Book Vol. 1, 12 Things You Can Make From Junk! By Brian Yanish. But I was still confused about the cereal part.
I opened up the envelope and pulled out a brightly colored book filled with opportunities for making fun stuff out of junk with my kids. And then I saw it! Brian had sent us his new book in a mailer that was made from an old cereal box. The kids thought it was really fun to see the outside of Brian’s old cereal box, which was bright blue with pictures of rice cereal, on the inside of the mailing envelope.
With our book in hand, Emily (5-years-old) and I entered the ScrapKins world, a recycling center where the adorable ScrapKins all live and build a world out of our junk. We chose the first craft in the book, Itcher’s Tube Tiger. We took an old toilet paper roll and using the detailed illustrations we turned what would have gone into our paper recycling bin into a cute little tiger. Emily and I were both proud of our creation.
After thumbing through the book, I had a different mind-set as I cleaned up our kitchen and made dinner. I was about to throw away the Styrofoam tray from the store when I realized that it could be made into Chomper’s Foam Glider. Matthew was excited when he arrived home from school and we could turn the trash into a toy. He was so eager to begin another project (making a pirate’s sword), that I had to stop him from unrolling our clean paper towels from the roll just so he could have the empty roll for his project!
The book contains other fun projects like how to turn a milk carton into a bird feeder, using a plastic bottle to grow a garden and turning a paper plate into a mask. Brian also gives kids the step by step instructions on how to draw some of these lovable creatures. The ScrapKins are based on Brian’s own childhood monster creations from drawing his mother had lovingly saved.
All of these crafts can be made from supplies that are part of your every-day life. For more information about the ScrapKins and how you and your kids can help the environment visit www.thescrapkins.com and find them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Scrap-Kins/25042636444 The book may be purchased for $9.99 at amazon.com. If you live in the NYC area, visit the ScrapKins website for information on how you can buy this book locally.
