100 Things to Recycle and Make

100 Things to Recycle and Make is an easy how-to craft book that will be great fun for kids. There are illustrations of each step and full photos of the complete project. I really enjoyed seeing ways to use the plethora of cereal boxes and toilet and paper towel roles in fun and creative ways.

With a British summer well and truly set in just in time for your little ones to take a break from school, this might be the book that will keep you all happy and sane.
Think of it as a compendium of crafts that Blue Peter *should* have done all those years ago. Little ones may need a little help, but older children should Eve able to do many independently. It’s a perfect book to entertain, recycle and keep those little hands busy this summer.

This book of things to make - mostly with scrap cardboard - depends to some extent on having paint and plastic eyes to achieve the effects. Later in the book you will find a suggestion for making eyes from beans, but in the case of most others I would suggest just painting on the eyes rather than adding plastic to the world.

The first section uses boxes to make fun storage, play masks, toys. Then we move on to cardboard tubes. The later section, which I liked best, uses natural materials like pinecones, stones, acorns, shells. But if these are not available when the kids are bored because it's raining, there should certainly be cardboard they can use instead of just putting it in the recycling bin. This really is the best kind of recycling - re-using even for a short time the cereal box, tissue box, kitchen roll tube, and egg boxes - the last part.

We tended not to need books about making playthings when we were small, but now this kind of guide might be needed because kids have so many shiny toys and screens. Unleash their creativity, refine their dexterity and stop the boredom. The crafts suit kids under eight.

I downloaded a copy from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.

arta e cartone, piatti in plastica, colla forbici e colori: gli ingredienti per decine di progetti creativi da affidare ai nanerottoli di casa, per intrattenerli e divertirli.

Sopratutto, progetti che riciclano materiali di scarto della vita quotidiana, che finirebbero inevitabilmente nella differenziata, e che così guadagnano un altro scopo e qualche giorno in più di vita.

E che presentano lavoretti dai risultati graziosissimi, contrariamente ad altri manuali che ho visto e che mi hanno fatto sanguinare le cornee per l'orrore dei risultati proposti. >.<

Un volume da sfruttare in ogni pagina, godendosi poi i coloratissimi risultati.

100 Things to Recycle and Make is a tutorial book aimed at kids and their caregivers. Anyone who has ever been around kids at any gift-giving holiday knows that kids generally spend much less time playing with and enjoying their presents than time spent playing with the packaging/boxes/wrappers. This book uses everyday repurposed and found objects in creative play to make fun playthings.

Due out 18th June 2019 from Quarto on their QEB imprint, it's 160 pages and will be available in hardback format. It's unclear from the publishing info if this book will be available in ebook format, but I will add that the eARC which was provided for review purposes had a very handy interactive table of contents and hyperlinks.

There are (by my count) 100 step by step illustrated tutorials arranged in 5 sections of 20 tutorials each. The base structures used in each of the tutorial sections are arranged around: cardboard boxes, paper plates, cardboard tubes, nature crafts, and egg cartons.

The introduction is a half page sidebar with a list of general items (glue, tape, ruler, scissors etc) which are used in the tutorials. It should be noted that the book doesn't contain very many actual photographs, but it does have colorful line drawn illustrations of the step-by-step tutorials (and a photograph of each completed project).

This would make a wonderful library book, homeschooling art unit book, make-it-take-it workshop, summer vacation book etc. Really fun and colorful vibrant homemade toys. I can see this book being a go-to favorite for babysitters and beleaguered parents during summer vacation. Start saving empty cereal boxes, egg cartons, and gift wrap tubes now.

Five stars. There are a lot of good ideas here.

i work the psychiatric departament for kids and teenagers in a hospital in Switzerland.
i really appreciate your book..... the acticities you are proposing is fantastic and very funny to do. In these last two days i tried the crocodiles, mushrooms and cars.....
they came out well, the ony advise i give you is to add ( if possible) little more help step by step in the captions... it is not always clear what to do next....
Overall this is a book i will buy immediately if i could find it out on the market! thank you for this advanced copy!

I flicked through this book yesterday and as my toddler was up at a ridiculous time this morning I made an aeroplane out of toilet rolls and cereal boxes, it doesn’t quite look like the picture but with a bit of practice I’m sure I’ll improve.

Easy to follow instructions and things to make with minimal fuss.

A great book

100 Things to Recycle and Make by Fiona Hayes gives so many wonderful ideas for the crafty family and teacher. While there was not time to try them all, several caught my interest. I liked the explicit detailed instructions along with a picture of the final project. No doubt when children do these the results may be a bit different but that is okay. I gathered the goal of the book was to give projects that children could actually do themselves with limited adult help, such as help cutting boxes, drilling holes, etc.

As a former kindergarten teacher, I could see many of the box, plates and tube projects being able to be used with students. Now as a grandmother who often wants to have ideas on hand for the grandchildren, the summer projects are the ones we will try first, such as sailboat, hot air balloon and several of the nature crafts. I could see the finished sailboats being played with in a small kiddie pool. The nature crafts would be suitable for a rustic fairy garden. I especially like the shell mushrooms which we will try. This is a craft I have not seen on Pinterest, usually those involve a more complex approach. I really liked the simplicity of these.

I had thought this would be a great reference for those who don’t have time to search out projects n Pinterest. Here they would be in one easy to use book. Now I think it has even more value than that. I was impressed with the variety of items used along with the ease of the projects. This would definitely be a useful reference book for anyone who spend time with children.

The publisher through Net Galley provided a digital ARC. I have voluntarily decided to read and review, giving my personal opinions and thoughts.

Do your kids like to keep cereal boxes? Straws? Milk cartons? This book offers lots of ideas on how to recycle materials in a creative way.

The graphics, unfortunately, look a bit basic, however the ideas are great.

Super cute! This book has lots of great ideas (100, to be exact!) and they all seem reasonably easy to execute with accessible materials. My favorite crafts were the ones made out of materials from nature, like pine cones and sticks. This book is be very well timed for the summer, great for keeping kids busy and reusing materials thy already have. I think it would also be a fantastic source of ideas for birthday party.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The book begins with a list of Basic Equipment. This includes such things as white glue, ruler, felt-tip pens, etc. Most of these simple supplies families would have on hand.

The next lists are of the crafts that require

Cardboard Boxes,
Paper Plates,
Cardboard Tubes,
Nature Craft (such as coral reef and fish, birds, dinosaur, etc.),
and Egg Cartons.

So many craft books look wonderful until you realize how expensive the supplies are. I was impressed that this book gives the necessary supplies up-front for all of the crafts. Then as each craft is introduced a list is provided of all the necessary items for that particular craft. This Supply List is followed by numbered, detailed instructions complete with colored pictures. Occasionally there is a yellow box containing a Handy Hint at the end of the craft instructions.

What Concerned Me:

Absolutely nothing.

What I Liked Most:

The STEAM, not STEM activities (STEM represents science, technology, engineering and maths. “STEAM” represents STEM plus the arts – humanities, language arts, dance, drama, music, visual arts, design, and new media.) will be great for classrooms, building parent and child relationships, and for allowing older kids to construct by themselves.

I like the fact that, while not all crafts will appeal to the reader, with 100 to choose from there will still be lots and lots to choose from.

We really enjoyed the wide variety of idea in this book, it covered very simple and more complex things to make which meant it was more useful for a wide range of ages. It also used easily sourced items, although of course very little of it could be recycled afterwards..

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.


There is some GREAT information in this book. Especially for a mom like me who has NO idea what she's doing! My kids loved this book too!

This was a sweet and fun book with lots of easy-to-follow construction plans. It's divided into sections, so pretty much whatever suitable item you have around the house can be made into something, whether the material be cardboard boxes or tubes, egg cartons, paper plates or even items from nature. Each section has a score of items to make, so you'll never be stick for something to make although you may be spoiled for choice!

I enjoyed reading this and while my own children are a bit old for a book like this one now, they loved this kind of thing when they were younger. Working with the hands improves the brain, and allows children to think outside the box - quite literally, seeing it not as a box, but as something to be created and then played with and enjoyed.

Entertaining your kids doesn't necessarily mean trip to the store to buy something expensive and made from plastic which eventually is likely to end in some ocean somewhere, killing wildlife. This is a sane and creative alternative, and very easy on the budget! It brings not only immediate rewards to children, but also sets them up with confidence and self-reliability for their future. I commend it fully.

This is a lovely colourful guide on how to create lots of fun creations using cardboard and other recyclable materials. Each project has a list at the beginning about what is needed and then Clear step by step guide with photos showing how to create it. There are even some big sculptures towards the end of the book. I can imagine my class of year fives being given a page in this book along with the material and be able to create the project independently. The book does seem to use a lot of paperplates and bowls so not everything can be found in the recycle bin but most things can. Overall it is a clever and creative book.

My new favorite book for crafting! So many ideas and so easy to make everything! I was excited already after having seen the cover, but after going through the book I looked for every available package and everything that can be used for these projects. I absolutely love this book, because I can make so many cool things with children from materials that are mostly thrown away. Moreover, these projects teach children creativity, out of the box thinking and they also boost children’s self-esteem. This book help parents to avoid buying a lot of unnecessary toys which will be just lying around the house after just a couple of weeks.

100 Things To Recycle and Make is a fun book with easy to follow instructions. The projects are perfect for children in grades K-2. My second grade son loved it. His only problem with the book was using the digital format we used. I would recommend this in a hard copy format. I love the illustrations because they make it easy for early readers to follow along. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

100 Things to Recycle and Make is a blast for kids (and adults too)! With a few recyclables on hand like cardboard boxes, paper plates, cardboard tubes, egg cartons, and materials found in nature you have endless possibilities for fun. The book is well layed out with easy to follow illustrations. From giraffes to jellyfish and cacti to tugboats, there are so many fun creations to make.

I was given this book from free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had mixed feelings about this book. The crafts themselves are cute, and easy to make with the given instructions. My son really liked the giraffe bookends, and has plans to make others soon.

The crafts range from needing leftover craft supplies to requiring a truly alarming amount of egg cartons. There are dozens of crafts that can be made from collecting things from outside, and some tutorials use a little of both.

The instructions vary. Some tell you exactly what you need to do and what to use while others tell you to procure different size boxes, cut them at an angle, and hope for the best. I liked that there were illustrations to tell you exactly how to cut or fold things, but I wish that basic measurements or some sense of scale had been included.

The book had a lot of fun ideas, but procuring the items takes time and a lot of Styrofoam. Not all of the projects are very "green" in nature (cutting and painting disposable plates and bowls and straws), so I was disappointed that they declared these as "Recycling projects" in the title.

So many great craft ideas. Loved this one! Makes a great gift for the kids in your life.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I received an ARC of this book from Quarto Publishing Group - QEB via NetGalley, this review is my personal opinion.

Great book, it gives you exactly what the title says. Ideas and more ideas with easy steps by steps with pictures of each project, I like that. Because I know I'm probably not the only one that so a craft, and decided to try to reproduce it and well it didn't work. In this case, if you do something wrong, the book will help you and give you the solution.

I like that it has easy projects like for young children and some more complicated for older ones, you have options on the type of materials and also the functionality. I believe that this book also represents a great opportunity for having fun in a more simple way. So, if you are a teacher, mom, aunt, grandmom or simple like children. And doing crafts on your own imagination sound scary. I recommend this book.

Lovely book. My son loved me reading it to him. The targeted audience. It was easy to read and well written Lots of interesting things to do

"100 Things to Recycle and Make" by Fiona Hayes is a book of creativity and conservation for kids that teaches them both ingenuity and to see potential in the things around them. This book has 100 projects for kids to make out of things that would otherwise go in the landfill. It teaches children how to make useful things and artwork that boosts they sense of worth and helps them grow their creativity.

There is so much to love in this book and the many projects will stimulate kids' minds for hours and hours.

I received this eBook free of charge from Quarto Publishing Group – QEB via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. I did not receive any fiscal compensation from either company for this review and the opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.

I appreciate that these crafts are very accessible. A kid can make these projects largely on their own and generally play with the result.

Such a fun book. I was excited to get this book as I had my niece and nephew coming for the summer. The book has crafts for many different age groups and very different levels or difficulty. This would make a great addition to a classroom, or home-schooled classroom.

This was such a great book! I homeschool and used this with my son to make treasures from things that otherwise would have been tossed. It was a nice way to incorporate fun into a lesson on recycling, reusing, and reducing waste.

My daughter loves these kind of crafts. And at 9, She doesn’t need to add a lot of help. Simple crafts. Good ideas for reuse.

100 things to Recycle and Make is a fantastic collection of creative projects you can do with your children. It consists of five sections each of which focuses on a specific material: cereal boxes, cardboard tubes (toilet paper and kitchen towel), paper plates, materials found in nature (shells, acorns, cones etc) and egg cartons.
As soon as I got this book I immediately started collecting these supplies as we really wanted to make as many of these fantastic animals, monsters, boats and other creative things as possible. The benefits of this kind of artwork are obvious: parents spending quality time with children, developing imagination, creativity and thinking out of box.
It also brought it home how much unnecessary packaging an average family like ours throws away and how this waste should be reduced or avoided altogether if we want a better future for our children.
Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group (QEB) for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

Wonderful book that show how to use recycle materials and make crafts. It had wonderful ideas and I was able to use some of them with the kids at the library.