Earth Day Signs with Repurposed Materials

It’s almost Earth Day! We made these Earth Day signs with repurposed materials just in the nick of time. I’m hoping my art students will do a little march around their neighborhood on Monday 🙂

I save many of our old clothes that have ripped or are just worn out and I cut them up into scraps. I separate them into colors and put them into baggies. These come in SO handy all the time. It’s very easy to grab the bags and put them on trays and make stuff. I have often done this when I’ve had some time left at the end of art class. Start collecting!

Supplies needed for Earth Day Signs:

~ Big piece of cardboard

~ Fabric piece cut to fit over cardboard

~ Fabric scraps from old shirts, tablecloths, pillowcases, sheets

~ Glue (we used Elmer’s but fabric glue would be better) which I put in bowls with a brush just to avoid big piles of glue.

~ Red felt heart

~ Stick

~ Yarn

~ Glue gun (to glue stick to the back)

How to make Earth Day signs:

1. Glue the big piece of fabric onto the cardboard. Then grab a round platter and place it on top of the fabric to trace a circle with a pencil.

2. I cut the fabric scraps into strips and squares and put them in baskets – one for each child.

3. Before getting started, we took a trip into my family room to check out the globe that I have in there. We talked about the round earth and the blue and green colors. When they sat back down, they all said they couldn’t see the pencil line so I went over it to make it a bit bolder. Then they started gluing.

4. Everyone had a slightly different gluing technique. Some put glue on the scraps, some put glue on the board. Putting glue on the board first definitely made it go faster – although it depends if that’s what you want! Sometimes you need a project to go fast, and sometimes slow.

5. Older kids will want to trim their pieces to fit perfect inside the circle. Younger kids don’t care! In fact, one little girl wanted her green grass on the outside of the globe. Ohh..kay!

6. When they were finished gluing, I gave them each a red heart and they could put it wherever they wanted.

7. Next, they wrapped their sticks with yarn. I had some lengths and colors pre-cut in a basket to make it easier.

8. Lastly, use a hot glue gun to attach the stick to the back. I also cut a skinny strip of cardboard and glued it over the stick just for extra security.

I love the simplicity of these signs, and I can picture them at an Earth Day rally!

They could use words, but I didn’t know what and I wanted it to be authentic and from the kids and some of them aren’t writing yet. Next time, maybe with an older group, we can cut some felt letters to embellish a little bit further.

Happy Earth Day!!

xx Bar

PS: For more recycled cardboard crafts, buy my book!

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