Milk Jug Houses

I've been looking for more ways to recycle our milk jugs. We go through a gallon of milk a day around here, so any project using a milk jug is a good fit for us. I've also been thinking about this weeks Unplug Your Kids' project theme of containers. Milk jugs are containers, right?

I turned to Family Fun for inspiration, though I also noticed some similar projects going on at the Filth Wizardry blogspot. In fact, I worried for a moment that a project like this was a little overdone. But, since the kids don't really care about overdone, as long as it's fun, we plunged ahead.

I cut all of the jugs the same way. There were circles in the plastic, that seemed to suggest windows, so I drew around them with a washable marker, and then cut them out with a razor knife. I used a washable marker, so I could wipe the lines away, when I was done cutting.

I made a model house for the kids to see, using construction paper, crayons, cotton balls, and little people furniture. Then, I let the kids loose on their own. They mainly chose to use crayons, though most of them did want some cotton ball smoke for their chimneys. They all had very definite ideas for their houses. It was interesting to see them expressing their artistic identities (except for the youngest, who claimed my house, and the oldest, who was too cool to make a doll house).

I barely managed to snap a couple of pictures, before the little ones whisk them away to play with, so I guess that means they were a hit. And, now I have a few less empty milk jugs piling up - for today anyway.

It's great to be a homeschooler.