Giant Recycled Cardboard Heart
If there’s one thing we absolutely LOVE at The Creativity Project, it’s transforming repurposed materials into an art invitation that calls children (OK, and adults too) back over and over again.
The recyclable painting wall has been a smash hit in so many classrooms, studios, and homes, so this year we thought we’d expand it into a heart-shaped multi-texture, multi-dimensional painting experience. Put all of that packaging to good use and watch that irresistible art magic unfold.
Supplies Needed
~ Giant piece of flat cardboard (ask neighbors or local friends if you don’t have any)
~ A plethora of recycled materials, like egg cartons, toilet paper rolls, corrugated cardboard (you can expose the interior of cardboard by tearing off one of the sides), corks, berry containers, crumpled paper, and any other textural material that can be glued down
~ Hot glue gun
~ Tempera paints
~ Brushes and foam rollers (if you have any)
Set-up and Process
This invitation requires a bit of forethought and planning (around 10 minutes worth). You can go low-key and scale this down for a smaller, table-top experience, or go big and really eliminate the need to take out the recycling this week.
1. Grab a big sheet of sturdy cardboard and draw a large heart. As your hot glue gun warms up, arrange your collection of textured recyclables so that they fit within the heart. Take an extra second to focus on the outside edge of the heart so that the shape is obvious! For ours, we used egg cartons, ribbed corrugated cardboard (peel off the smooth layer), mailer packaging, toilet paper tubes (both whole and cut-up), and some padding from an IKEA package. All of this, by the way, was snagged from the neighborhood during a naptime walk — people love helping out with these kinds of things. Hot glue each item on and then you’re ready to paint!
2. We used tempera paint in analogous colors so that mixing would yield an extra lovely result. You can make your tempera paints even more opaque (and so much more satisfying visually for young painters) by adding white paint to each color.
3. If it’s possible to stand up this recyclable canvas in your home or classroom, definitely do so. Painting while standing up is excellent for strengthening hand and arm muscles needed for writing. We leaned ours against our art table with a tarp underneath to catch the drips. Make sure to have some wet rags or baby wipes handy for easy clean up.
4. Invite your child to get into all of the nooks and crannies. They’ll love sliding their brush down the tubes or twisting it inside the egg cups. If you can, let this piece hang out for a couple of days. My younger son, Calvin, and I worked on this off and on throughout an afternoon, and when my older child came home from school, he couldn’t wait to jump in too! They started back up again after breakfast the next day.
It’s worth it to leave these types of collaborative, big pieces out, emphasizing the importance of returning to your artwork over and over again and instilling a sense of community.
Do you need help reimagining your classroom as a hub of creativity where children share ideas and feel seen, known, and celebrated? Learn more about our Materials Matters course and Professional Learning Workshops and transform your creative practice today.