8 Beach Sand Toys or Gardening Crafts from Recycled Milk Jugs- Free!

Recycled and recyclable materials are my 'material of choice' for crafts. It has never made sense to me, why I should buy materials to make crafts? My recycling bin offers a plethora of media to use: cardboard, glass, metal and plastic.

Here is another craft made from the ubiquitous plastic milk jug: sand toys for the beach or gardening tools! You'll get one complete set of up to 8 toys or tools from one milk jug (two if you want all eight) with this activity. You can make it at the beach or at home; whatever works for you. You can make one for each child in your family including the baby. You can make one with each child in your class, scout troop, 4H group, day or overnight camp group, aftercare class, or VBS group. You will need nothing more than

a washed out milk jug for each child; if you want to make all five tools, you'll need two per child
a permanent marker for you and each adult
a pair of scissors (Children's Fiskars will work fine for this activity if you don't have enough adult scissors.)

Since these sand and beach toys are made from recyclable materials, they are not as sturdy. But they are perfect small hands and young gardeners. You can reuse them, recycle or discard them at the beach (in the proper receptacle of course).

To create a pail or a strainer/sifter:

Draw a line around the base of the milk jug, about three inches from the bottom.
Poke a hole in the line with sharp scissors
Cut along the line.
You have the first tool or toy; a sand mold and pail. If you want to turn this into a sifter or strainer, poke holes around the entire bottom about a half an inch apart.

With the remainder of the jug:

Draw a circle around the top about two inches down from the mouth.
Poke a hole.
Cut around the circle.
You have the second tool or toy, a funnel. This can also be used as a mold for a small castle.

With the leftover piece, you can make a trowel or shovel:

Make a trowel: