School holiday crafts & eco activities

School holidays are the perfect time to slow down, get creative, and show kids how fun and rewarding upcycling can be. By using everyday items you already have at home, you’ll save money, reduce waste, and teach your kids that caring for the environment can be part of everyday play. Here are some easy, engaging eco activities and crafts for your next rainy day or “I’m bored” moment:

Home Baking

Baking together is a classic holiday activity, and with Ecopack compostable resealable bags, you can store treats sustainably. Our favourite simple recipes include chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal bliss balls, and cheese scones.

Once cooled, your treats can be stored in Ecopack compostable resealable bags, ready for lunchboxes, picnics, or gifting to neighbours. Kids can even decorate the bag to turn them into a one-of-a-kind gift.

Cereal Box Notebooks

Turn empty cereal boxes into colourful notebooks your kids can use for drawing or journaling. All you need is empty cereal boxes, scissors, paper (scrap paper, one-sided printed sheets), hole punch, and string or old ribbon.

1. Cut the cereal box into your desired notebook cover size
2. Cut paper to match
3. Punch holes along one edge and tie with string or ribbon
4. Let your kids decorate with stickers, stamps or drawings

Bottle Cap Garden Markers

If you’re planting seedlings or herbs these holidays, create garden markers using old bottle caps. All you need is a few plastic or metal bottle caps, sticks or bamboo skewers, glue (or hot glue with adult supervision), and paint or permanent markers

1. Paint or write the name of each plant on a bottle cap
2. Glue the cap onto the top of a stick
3. Place in your garden or pots to label your plants

Tin Can Wind Chimes

Transform empty cans into a beautiful garden or balcony wind chime. All you need are clean empty cans, string or twine, paint and brushes, and decorations such as beads, buttons, or old keys.

1. Paint the cans in bright colours and let dry
2. Use a nail and hammer to create holes in the bottom of each can
3. Thread string through, tying on beads or old keys to create sounds
4. Hang your chime in a breezy spot and listen to your creation sing

Cloth Dolls

Your Ecopack bamboo cleaning cloths are soft and easy to work with, making them a surprisingly fun craft material. These cloth dolls can be used in imaginative play, and when they’ve had their fun, they can be composted along with the cloth at end of life. All you need are Ecopack bamboo cleaning cloths and/or scrap fabric, needle and thread (or glue), buttons.

1. Fold the bamboo cloth into a rectangle and tie a section for the ‘head’ using yarn
2. Use scraps of fabric to create a simple dress or cape
3. Sew or glue buttons for eyes or stitch simple facial features
4. You can also make mini superheroes or animals, using felt scraps for ears or wings

Jar Lanterns

Make cosy lanterns for winter nights using old jars. All you need is clean glass jars, paint or tissue paper and glue, twine for hanging, LED tealights.

1. Decorate your jars with paint or by gluing on pieces of tissue paper
2. Let dry completely
3. Place an LED tealight inside for a warm glow
4. Use for movie nights, a family dinner centrepiece, or backyard camping

Customise Your Own Tote

Turn a simple Ecobags cotton tote into your child’s own reusable library bag, art bag or gift bag. All you need is an Ecobags cotton tote bag, fabric paints or markers, stamps or sponges for printing, a drop cloth or old newspaper.

1. Lay your plain tote bag flat with paper inside to prevent bleed-through
2. Let your child sketch their design with pencil (flowers, their name, patterns)
3. Use fabric paints or markers to colour it in
4. Allow to dry fully and iron (if needed) to set the paint

Happy holidays!