Hello everybody! Today I would like to share some ideas with you all for projects that use up leftover or almost used-up materials! With budget cuts and limited funding for art education programs, it is important to get the most use out of all of your supplies. The best way to get the most use out of your supplies is to use them until the end through projects such as these!
The first idea I would like to share with you all is using leftover scraps from projects to create collages. This would include collecting scraps from projects such as leftover construction paper, magazine scraps, and scraps from other projects. Then have your students use those collected scraps to make collages!
Another project would be to melt leftover crayons. This project would include collecting any broken or unusable crayons and having your students glue them onto a project and then melt them. Students can glue the crayons in a straight line at the top of the board, create a picture underneath the crayons, put tape over the picture they created, and then melt the crayons down over the board.
As art educators, we will likely have a lot of old paint that will need to be used up. A great project to make use out of old paint would be to put the paint into a spray bottle with water. Then have your students create a stencil out of paper and lay it on top of another piece of paper. Then have them spray the bottle over the stencil to create a pattern with the spray paint!
Another frequent material I see art educators have are old or runny glue bottles. An interesting project to use those up would be to use them for some glue outlining! You can take some India ink and put them into the old glue bottles and have your students create a design with the colored glue on pieces of paper.
The last idea I have for you all would be the dried up marker project. This would include collecting all of the dried out markers throughout the year and then using the marker caps to create words or a mural with your students!
