How to make traditional games with recycled material

Traditional games made from recycled materials are ideal for entertaining and taking an active part in caring for the environment.

Using recyclable materials that we all have at home such as cardboard, plastic, paper, glass we can create incredible and fun games.

Also, to decorate you will only need some stationery materials that you can find at home.

Some of the ingenious options that we present to you below need the help of an adult, so they can reinforce your family bond when making these games.

Follow the instructions for best results and give it a personal touch with the decoration.

Truck with carafes

One of the projects you can make is trucks with plastic bottles.

These can be carafes, soda bottles, detergent bottles or fabric softener bottles. Any large or small bottle you have at home is ideal for this craft.

With the help of an adult, cut the windows of the truck with a box cutter. To make the wheels of the car, glue on plastic bottle caps with a glue gun.

We leave the decoration of these traditional games with recycled material to your imagination and taste, but we recommend that you turn your creation into a fire truck, a police car, an ambulance or a pizza delivery car.

Alien vessel

To build a state-of-the-art alien ship, all you need to do is recycle a cheese box, a plastic egg cup and popsicles.

Cut out one of the spaces in the egg cup and cut a hole the same size as the egg cup you cut out. That way you can fit them perfectly.

To place the supports of the ship, make four openings with the help of a scissors or a cutter in the cheese box. Then insert the popsicles.

When it’s time to decorate, use aluminium foil to give it an otherworldly look. You can also use paint and silver glitter.

But… wait a minute, ships can’t fly without a crewman! To make an alien, use a cork and design the look you want.

Traditional games: stone dominoes

To make this domino you will use a resistant material provided by nature: stones.

You need to collect 28 flat stones that have the same or similar size. You can find them on the beach, in parks or in the river.

To start making the dominoes you must paint all the flat stones with white paint

As soon as you see the paint dry, use a black marker to draw the numbering of the dominoes. Remember that they range from double white to double six.

If you need a case to keep the slings without damaging them or dropping the paint, you can decorate a shoe box. We recommend that you identify it with a marker so that you don’t forget that the game is inside.

Cardboard Parking

Playing with toy cars is more fun if they have ramps or parking lots to learn how to park.

For this game you need cardboard from a box, a ruler, markers, a cutter and some paints.

Open the box, draw the path that the cars will follow on the lower and upper floors, and cut with a box cutter.

Draw the walls that will connect the floors and cut them out. Glue all the pieces together with the help of a glue gun.

For decoration, it is best to paint all the parts before gluing them together so that no cardboard is visible.

Cork Snake

You probably keep a few corks at home without discarding them.

To give them another chance, you can create as big a snake as you want just by using corks.

You’ll need several corks, a cutter, a needle, a string, paints and a marker.

With the help of an adult, cut the corks so that they are the same size and make a hole in the middle to insert the string.

When all the corks are connected by the string, tie knots at the ends so that your snake does not come apart.

To decorate, paint in the color of your choice. Draw its face and scales with the marker.

Traditional basketball games

For these traditional games you need a plastic bottle, string, an awl, scissors, acrylic paints, a ping-pong ball, a glue gun, a pencil, a wool sewing needle, brushes, an awl and a marker.

Using the marker, draw the shape of the fish’s mouth on the bottle and cut it out with the scissors

With half of the bottle left over, draw the fish’s fins leaving some flaps and cut them out.

Paint your fish the color you want on the outside of the bottle and the fins on both sides.

Asking an adult to help, punch a hole in the bottle cap to pass the string through and tie a knot to keep it from coming out.

To attach the ping-pong ball to the game, make a hole with the sewing needle and pass the cord through a knot at the end so that it does not separate when you play.

Draw the face, scales and other details on the fish with your permanent marker. And finally, glue the fins together with the glue gun.

Tin Robot

If you’re looking for a robot like the one in your favorite cartoons or movies like the Wizard of Oz, you’re in the right place.

To assemble your robot you will need colored cardboard, pipe cleaners, a can, buttons, scissors, a small plastic cup, tape and a glue gun

First you have to make your robot’s arms and legs. For the legs, cut two strips of cardboard measuring three centimetres, make some tubes from the cardboard and tape them together so that they don’t separate.

For the arms, cut another two strips of cardboard and fold them into an accordion. Cut two small pieces of pipe cleaner and give them a U-shape, and glue them to each end of the accordion arms.

Glue all of the ends to the can with the glue gun and make sure they stick together.

Place the small plastic cup on the can and glue with the glue gun to form the head.

For the robot’s eyes, stick two buttons on. And to form its antennae, roll two pieces of pipe cleaner into a spring and glue.

Sock Doll

It is common for a sock to be lost and left without a partner, so an incredible way to give it a new use is to turn it into a doll.

To make traditional games like this you need a sock, string, coloured felt, cushion filling, glue gun and scissors.

Put the cushion filling inside the sock and sew it up so that it doesn’t come out. Cover the seam by gluing a piece of felt with the glue gun to make a scarf for your doll.

To make her eyes you can use magic eyes or you can cut out black and white felt to make them.

For his mouth, cut out a smile with felt in the color you like best.

Carnivorous plant puppet

With puppets, children can create incredible stories and tell them through them.

Today we bring you the step by step of how to create a carnivorous plant puppet, but you can create the puppet with the motive you want.

You will need brushes, white paper, scissors, two disposable paper plates, a glue gun, green and red paints, and two moving eyes.

Take two plates and paint them. One will have only one green face while the other should have a green face, and the other should have green edges and a red center.

Fold the green plate with the color out, and the green plate with red with the red center inside.

Cut the fold of the green plate without reaching the edges. Also cut out small triangles and glue on the white part of the plate to make the teeth of the plant.

Glue the plate with the red center inside the plate with the teeth only on the edges. To finish, paste the moving eyes and you have your carnivorous plant ready.

Frisbee with paper plate

Frisbee is a fun game to share with family and friends and is easy to make.

All you need are two paper plates, a glue gun, colored markers and a pair of scissors.

Cut out the centre of the two paper plates and make the decorations of your choice with the markers.

When you have finished decorating, glue the edges of both plates with the glue gun and let dry well before using it.

In addition to the markers, you can use paints to make designs. But make sure you don’t use too much of it so that the cardboard doesn’t weaken.

Traditional games: catapult

To make this fun game and see who gets the highest score, you don’t need many tools.

You should have three paper plates, markers, ice cream sticks, glue, rubber bands and a plastic bottle cap.

Use the marker to write down the scores on each plate and decorate them as you like to make them more eye-catching.

Attach five ice cream sticks with a rubber band at each end. Tie two more sticks together with a rubber band at one end only.

Open the untied end of the two sticks and insert the group of five sticks. Use another rubber band to hold it.

Stick the bottle cap on the end of the catapult and that’s it. To use it, place a paper ball on the cap and throw it to see what score you get.

Slingshot

To create your slingshot you need two materials: a roll of toilet paper and a balloon.

Tie a knot in the balloon at the blowing part and cut off the center part. Stretch the balloon and place it at one end of the toilet paper roll.

If you don’t want your slingshot to be boring, you can make a design for it with some markers and gouache.

You can also use these traditional games to have a family competition. Just draw targets with scores and add points until you see who is the best.

Green Bubble Shooter

The plastic bubble throwers are discarded when they run out of bubble-making content.

The eco-friendly bubble thrower can be used as often as you like.

To do this you need a roll of toilet paper, a deep container, liquid soap or detergent and water.

In your container, mix the liquid soap with the water to make the liquid you will use to form the bubbles.

To use it you must place the end of your paper roll and blow until the bubbles come out.

As the roll is made of cardboard and will deteriorate, you can change it and use the previous roll to make a craft that needs paper mache.

Explorer binoculars

Adventures are a good plan for all kids and more if you include a scavenger hunt.

To make the binoculars you need two tubes of toilet paper, a string, a hole punch, some scissors, a glue gun and two plastic balls

Decorate the toilet paper tubes with the designs you like and go over them with a marker.

Stick the two little plastic balls on both toilet paper tubes to make a separation and make sure they are aligned.

Punch a few centimeters away from the ends, thread the string through the holes and tie a knot to keep it from coming out. That way, you have a string to carry your binoculars wherever you want.

Traditional games: marble maze

If you have some unused marbles at home, dust them off and get to work to give them a new use.

For that you will need some straws, tape, scissors, glue and the lid of a shoe box.

Draw the maze you want to make on the lid of the box. Once finished, cut the straws according to the pattern of the maze you designed and glue them together.

Let the glue dry and make sure that all the straws are firmly attached to the lid of the box. Decorate to your liking and you have a maze ready to use.

Do you need materials? Look for them in Monouso

Many of these materials are available at home, however, if you need any or wish to stock up on commonly used products we invite you to visit Monouso.

In our online store you will find various products, functional and of the necessary quality to help you in your day to day life.

Plates, glasses, cutlery, cleaning items, boxes, kraft paper or packing tape are some of the products you can find in our shop.

Have you got what you need to get started? Let’s play!