Eco Kids Column: Reusing Children's Artwork

PENCINTA ALAM DEC 2013
ECO KIDS COLUMN

REUSING CHILDREN'S ARTWORK
By Wong Ee Lynn
(gl.mnselangor@yahoo.com)


(Image credits: The Imagination Tree. http://theimaginationtree.com/tag/reusing-artwork)

The school year has come to an end, and without doubt you would have accumulated many masterpieces from various art sessions at school and at home. What can you do with all your paintings and drawings? There is only so much space on the refrigerator for displaying your artwork. How do you decide which to keep, which to throw away and which ones to give away? Here are some ideas you can try out to manage your collection of artwork. 

1. REDUCE AND RECYCLEGive yourself a limited storage space, for example, a large folder or a keepsake box. Choose only your best work to store in the folder or box. For every 1 item you decide to keep, you should discard 5. If you find it too difficult to part with your labour of love, then use a digital camera to take photos of your artwork and store them in a folder on the computer or on a thumbdrive. Label the folder with the year and your name. You will no doubt produce more artwork with each passing year, so you may wish to go through the physical folder or box to select only the best pieces of work to keep. Put the rest of your artwork in the paper recycling bin.


2. LETTERS AND POSTCARDSNot many people send letters or postcards by post these days, but sending and receiving snail-mail brings a special kind of pleasure. Our grandparents, especially, love to hear from us by snail-mail, even if they do see us in person or talk to us on the phone from time-to-time. You can turn some of your best artwork into letters and postcards to be mailed to loved ones. For letters, choose artwork which uses only one side of the paper. The other side of the paper should remain clean and blank for writing on. For postcards, choose the best part of your artwork, and crop it out to postcard size and shape. Paste that part of your drawing/painting on a piece of cardboard (old greeting cards, thick envelopes and cereal boxes will do fine). Write your message on the back of the postcard. Remember to leave space on the right for the mailing address. Fill in the address, add a stamp, and you are ready to mail your unique postcard to someone special.


3. GIFT WRAPUse your larger paintings and drawings as giftwrap. This is an especially good use for patterned paper, for example, when you do potato stamp printing, marble printing or leaf printing in art class.


4. GIFT TAGS AND BOOKMARKSSome parts of an artwork may be more attractive and well coloured-in than the others. Cut out those portions to be used as gift tags or bookmarks. You may want to paste them onto strips of cardboard (again, you can use cereal boxes, thick envelopes, old greeting cards and hard magazine covers). Alternatively, you can fold them into origami hearts to use as gift tags. (Instructions for origami hearts here: http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-hearts.html‎)

5. TURN THEM INTO JIGSAW PUZZLES

Draw jigsaw puzzle-type lines on the back of your drawing and cut along the lines. Put the puzzle pieces in a used envelope and hand it to a sibling or friend to put together on a rainy day indoors.

6. PERSONALISED BEDROOM DECOR

Coat a small box or tin evenly with craft glue and paste your drawings or paintings on the surface of the box or tin. Smooth out wrinkles and trim edges before the glue dries. Now you have unique and personalised keepsake boxes and pencil caddies for your bedroom. 

7. HAPPY CANS

Are your family members collecting cans and jars of food for the underprivileged? It is nice to add a personalised touch to your donations to let the recipients know that you are thinking of them. Cut your colourful artwork into circles that fit the top of the jars and cans of food. Stick your artwork on the cans or jars using a small piece of tape. You should not obscure the expiry date or ingredients list. Imagine how cheered up the recipient would feel to see the amount of thought you put into your donations. 

8. LANTERNS AND LUMINARIES

If an artwork is done on thin paper, cut it down to size that it can be wrapped around a stocky glass jar without overlapping. Use craft glue to paste the artwork around the jar. Add a lit tealight candle to the jar, and you have a luminary illuminating your very own artwork. If a particular work of art is created on thick paper or card, turn them into Chinese paper lanterns (see picture) that you can hang up to add a festive touch to your house.