In the spring, I use them to have the children plant seeds in so they can take them home when the seeds have started to grow. Milk cartons are cheap to use and great to recycle. My students love the I Spy books by Walter Wick. As a result of their interest in reading and in searching for the hidden objects in these books, we decided to make our own 'I Spy' collages. The students worked in groups of four to six and created little collages around the room with our own little toys, magnets, games, blocks and anything small that they could find.
Students can also create collages based on specific themes.
I used a digital camera to take the pictures for the book and then the students wrote their own riddles at the bottom of the page. Older students could make more difficult riddles. On one shelf I keep basic tools such as scissors, pencils, markers, a hole punch, tape, glue and a stapler. The other shelves are filled with cast-off boxes, paper towel rolls, washed out milk cartons, plastic lids, pieces of cardboard, construction paper scraps, straws, pipe cleaners and craft sticks. I invite parents to help me keep our center well-stocked by sending in their old boxes, clean socks, egg cartons, etc.