Middle school is a perfect time for adding an additional aspect to art! Bring in outside resources and recycle everyday items to create beautiful works of art.
This list of 35 ideas will help you use plastic bottles, paper towel rolls, paper pieces, and other recycled materials to embrace your middle schoolers’ inner artists to complete many creative projects.
1. Recycled Tins Wind Chimes
This is a great reduce reuse recycle activity. Students will enjoy working with the tins and metal cans, as they are able to repurpose objects to a new artistic level! Recycled items, like cans, lids, and other metal objects make for a fun recycled art materials project!
Learn More: Hands On As We Grow
2. Water Bottle Fish Craft
Recyclable materials, like plastic bottles, are perfect for this colorful fish creation. Middle school students will enjoy this activity because it will truly let their creativity run free. Let them twist and form the plastic to shape into what they prefer.
Learn More: Meaningful Mama
3. Nature Suncatchers
This beautiful suncatcher wind chime is a lovely project to let middle schoolers create. Using natural materials like flowers and recycled jar lids can end in a beautiful project option that middle schoolers will be proud to make!
Learn More: Hands On As We Grow
4. Paper Mache Pots
Paper mache pots will be an engaging project for middle school students. Let them choose the patterns and prints of colored paper scraps for the pots. They will enjoy this recycling project and turning it into adorable pots that will be usable for other projects.
Learn More: Childhood 101
5. Tin Can Creatures
Fun and playful, these tin can creatures can be an entertaining and enjoyable art project for students. Challenge students to use everyday materials and see who can get the most creative!
Learn More: My Very Educated Mother
6. Nature Weaving
This nature weaving craft is a great way to forage natural and organic materials to create their own weaving project. Using nature-friendly materials is a fun way to incorporate science into this art activity. It will be a challenge to have students find different materials and distinguish their own projects from the rest.
Learn More: Craftiments
7. Bottle Cap Mural
Bottle cap murals are a big hit for this age group! You don’t need any expensive materials for this! Instead, you only need recycled bottle tops from a variety of bottles, like lotion bottles, laundry bottles, and water bottles.
Learn More: Art-Actually
8. Plastic Spoon Dragonfly
This fun reduce reuse recycle activity is a great way to let students take their own creativity to the next level. Recycled spoons and craft items allow for a colorful and crafty end product.
Learn More: Pinterest
9. Water Bottle Bottom Flowers
Using the bottoms of beverage bottles, this cute little flower art activity is easy to make and good to use for allowing students freedom and choice in how they want their bouquet of recycled flowers to look. You could even have a recycling contest to encourage students to bring in what they recycle at home to use in art class.
Learn More: The Spruce Crafts
10. Dragonfly Egg Carton Craft
Another paper mache project, this recycled egg carton project is ideal for sparking creativity! Sixth through eighth-graders will enjoy creating their own versions of the recycled dragonfly. Students can choose colors and the way they construct their own dragonfly!
Learn More: All Free Kids Crafts
11. Spring CD Birds
This original idea is a great way to recycle old CDs! Let students choose the persona of their spring birds. They can add paper, feathers, and eyes, plus accessorize and decorate as they prefer!
Learn More: All Free Kids Crafts
12. Mini Lid Banjo
These adorable recycled projects are perfect for middle schoolers because they are a bit more tedious to put together! Let students choose their materials and allow them to use them to create their own banjo!
Learn More: The Spruce Crafts
13. Egg Carton Flowers
Another egg carton project, this flower artwork is beautiful and creative! You can use egg cartons or layers of cardboard to create a 3D look to really make these flowers pop! This would be great to use in spring to add a splash of color to your walls!
Learn More: The Spruce Crafts
14. Milk Jug Bird Feeders
This plastic bottle bird feeder is made from a milk jug and can be fun to create and decorate. You can talk about science topics that will also fit within this project theme. Students can take them home or hang them in trees at school.
Learn More: Great Stems
15. Wooden Sculptures
This wooden sculpture is a beautiful abstract piece of art. It allows for individual creativity but then piecing everything together to make one project of collaboration. This is great for encouraging social interaction among students as well.
Learn More: The Artful Parent
16. Cardboard Sculptures
Creating cardboard sculptures is a fun project as well. Recycle old toilet paper and paper towel rolls and let students decorate them with paint or markers. Let them jumble the pieces in their own ways to create unique and individualized works of art.
Learn More: ArtBar Blog
17. Recycled Colorful Photo Mats
Creating colorful photo mats is fun and easy. These projects inspire creativity and uniqueness but also remain simple and easy to put together. These will add some pizzazz to any photo frame and let students see the value of recycling paper scraps.
Learn More: My Very Educated Mother
18. Water Bottle Wind Spirals
Recycling old water bottles can take on many forms. Using them to create these wind spirals is a great way to recycle and still create beautiful works of art. Students can choose the colors and create these outdoor decorations for their yards at home or to add some personality to the trees at school.
Learn More: CBC
19. Recycled Newspaper Ornament
Perfect for Christmas time, these recycled newspaper ornaments make great gifts! Use recycle newspapers, magazines, and other paper to create these adorable ornaments. Encourage students to take ownership of this project and choose different types of ornaments to make.
Learn More: Pinterest
20. Magazine Strip Silhouette
A fun and engaging art project, this recycled magazine strip silhouette is a great activity for students. They will enjoy choosing their color palette or coordinating paper strips to create their silhouettes. They can choose different animal shapes to create.
Learn More: Nafeuse Magazine
21. Feather Wings Mural
The feather wings mural is a fun project that all students can enjoy after it is completed! Let students create this mural with a variety of recycled items, color coordinating each section. These make a nice backdrop for student photos.
Learn More: Elementary Art Fun
22. Book Pages Artwork
Recycle old books by using their pages to create different pictures. Choose landscapes or other objects to create with the words from the pages. These make a beautiful picture and allow students the opportunity to create art with a unique medium!
Learn More: Pinterest
23. Bottle Cap Garden Birds
Recycle different types of bottle caps. Place the bottle caps in an order to create a bird image. Use contrasting colors to add eyes and wings and a beak. Students can be creative in decorating their birds with whatever design and colors they choose.
Learn More: Pinterest
24. Rolled Paper Garden
A bit more time-consuming but good for a long-term project, this rolled paper garden is a colorful burst of energy in your classroom. Have students recycle many types of paper and even bottle caps or other small items to add dimension to this art project.
Learn More: Art Ideas That Grow
25. Balloon Bowl
Students will really enjoy creating this balloon bowl. Using paper mache techniques, they can craft this bowl made of recycled paper and glue. Use a balloon to help it hold its form and then set it aside to dry and put it to good use!
Learn More: DIY Projects
26. Egg Carton Flower Garlands
Recycled egg cartons can make some adorable garland! Use these colored egg cartons to create flowers. Students can deconstruct egg cartons, color and decorate them, and then strong them together to form their own garlands.
Learn More: Amazing Interior Design
27. Cherry Blossom Branch
This beautiful cherry blossom craft recycles old sticks and paper to form these gorgeous cherry blossom trees. These are perfect for spring and add some cheer and brightness to your room and hallway.
Learn More: Amazing Interior Design
28. Egg Carton Rose Mirror Frame
Another great way to recycle egg cartons is this beautiful flower craft! These recycled flowers can line a mirror or bulletin board to give it some extra decoration!
Learn More: Amazing Interior Design
29. DIY Paperweights
Recycle old buttons to create paperweights. Encourage students to recycle old and unique buttons that are interesting and full of character. They could make themed designs or color coordinate them, or decide to make them totally random.
Learn More: Lil Blue Boo
30. Paper Mosaics
Paper mosaics make beautiful art pieces! Students can use a photo or model picture to craft their work or they can be totally creative and create their own vision. Using a variety of recycled papers cut into small squares, students can form their own pictures.
Learn More: Discover Hub Pages
31. Recycled Fish
This art activity is super simple but full of possibilities for creativity! Students can create fish and make their own ponds, aquariums, and other ways to display a small school of interesting and decorated fish.
Learn More: I Heart Crafty Things
32. Bottle Cap Table Top or Mural
Invite students to try different types of art! Collecting bottle caps and recycling them by creating a tabletop is a big project but one that students can be proud to share with their families and their friends. This project is a large item and will add character and personality to a room.
Learn More: Instructables
33. Recycled Baskets
Recycled baskets are nice works of art, but they are also useful. Students can decide which shapes and sizes they want to create and how they want to color them. They can actually be quite sturdy and could make nice gifts or additions to your classroom for storage.
Learn More: Momtastic
34. Paper Tube Sculptures
Paper tube sculptures are easy to build and don’t require many supplies. Aside from cardboard tubes and glue, all they need is their creative imagination. Students can even craft challenges for most tubes used, tallest structures, widest structures, and many more.
Learn More: Mrs. Jahnig Blogspot
35. Bottle Cap Self Portrait
When students are ready to advance to a challenge, this self-portrait bottle cap mural is a great option. While it does take a good bit of space, it can result in a beautiful work of art that will help motivate and encourage students to explore their natural artistic talents.
Learn More: Bitrebels
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