Plastic bottles come in all shapes and sizes, and they are used and usually tossed away – either into the recycling bin or into the trash. They best way to recycle is to reuse since reusing and repurposing plastic takes absolutely no energy. There are a number of fun ways to reuse plastic bottles. Instead of tossing all used plastic containers into the recycling bin or the trash, consider the following fun ways to reuse plastic bottles that will turn them into sources of entertainment for kids and adults alike.
Reuse Colorful Containers for Fun Beach or Sandbox Toys
Buckets for the beach are nothing more than cheap plastic containers complete with handles. Why buy beach buckets when empty laundry detergent containers are stronger, easy to reuse, and come in a wide-range of colors? Using a utility knife, carefully cut a clean laundry detergent bottle evenly around the top, just below the handle. Use a heavy-duty hole punch to create handle openings, and use knotted sisal rope to create a sturdy handle for carrying. Use the plastic bottle handle and the capped container as a sturdy shovel.
Use a second top without a lid from a smaller bottle as a funnel, and reuse any discarded lids to make sand castle forms. Laundry detergent containers and lids have many fun uses, and they make great beach toys.
Reuse Clear Containers for Challenging Search Games
My eye doctor’s office has fun and challenging search games concealed in clear plastic containers, and while waiting for an examination these games are a fun and challenging way to pass the time. The capped and secure containers are filled with birdseed and numerous small objects such as buttons, coins, safety pins, metallic confetti shapes, and about one dozen other hard-to-find items. Each of the clear capped containers include lists of items hidden in the birdseed-filled bottles.
Some items are harder to find than others, and there are always hidden items that seem evasive and absolutely impossible to find. This fun way to reuse plastic containers make great gifts for kids, office workers, and anyone that enjoys fun and challenging games that involve searching.
Fun Homemade Squirt Guns
Plastic containers with pull-up narrow tops make fantastic homemade squirt guns, and they are a fantastic way to reuse items that might otherwise end up in the trash. Why buy small squirt guns when empty containers with pull-up tops work just as well? Kids can have a blast squirting each other and refilling bottles of water. Give your kids a few dozen plastic drink bottles with pull-up tops to reuse and they will have a great time playing water tag on hot summer days.
Reuse Clear Containers for Beautiful Sand Art
Works of art made with colored sand are a great way to reuse clear plastic containers and provide kids with something fun and time-consuming. Buy or make colored sand using the instructions in this article entitled Homemade Colored Sand. It provides cheap and easy alternatives to store-bought colored sand while providing a fantastic way to reuse clear plastic containers. Simply layer the sand and run bendable wooden skewers down the sides of the containers to create interesting designs.
Fun Eye-Catching Snow Globes
My little girl loves to make snow globes, and her snow globes are made from clear plastic containers with lids, colored beads, glitter, and ordinary tap water. They are fun to shake and watch, and they can be made into more realistic snow globes if baby oil or mineral oil is used instead of water. The added items will sink slowly to the bottom. Be sure to glue the lids closed after filling if you plan to reuse and fill the bottles for small children that just might try to open the tops.
Paint Bottles for Kids
Another fun way to reuse plastic containers is by filling narrow-neck bottles that have pull-up tops with washable paint. Give kids large sheets of paper, and encourage them to create fun and unique splatter art using the containers. They can create splats, swirls, and all kids of interesting shapes. When the containers are tightly closed it is possible to reuse them again and again for creating abstract art and other fun washable paint projects.