One of the many ways we can take care of the Earth is by recycling. Instead of tossing things that can be recycled into a recycle bin, why not turn them into learning tools?

Got milk? Is it in a cardboard milk carton? Got juice or lemonade? Are they in cardboard cartons? Got cardboard milk/juice cartons? Stop! Don't throw them away! Use them again! For what? See the first frame below.

Well, let's see. Take 2 half gallon cartons and cut them down until the sides on each of them are about 4" high. Force one carton inside another to create a cube. Cover the cube with some paper. Now you can turn that cube into a number die, a dot die, a song cube, a poetry cube and more. Look at these photographs for ideas.

Got a half gallon cardboard milk/juice carton? Cut down about 2 inches from the top. Then, look at these photographs on ways to turn the carton into a Jack and the Beanstalk prop or a clock for Hickory Dickory Dock. Cover the carton with red paper and draw lines on that paper to create a brick wall. Attach an egg cutout with a brad and you have a Humpty Dumpty prop.

If you're going to do any of these activities with an entire class you're going to need lots of cartons. Ask parents to save them for you. Show them how to rip open the glue at the top of the carton. Ask them to run the cartons through the dishwasher before sending them to school. I know from experience, lots and lots of experience, that the cartons will not melt even a teeny tiny bit in your dishwasher.

You can use any size cartons to create most of the activities I have suggested. Storage may be a problem. Store quart and pint cartons inside of half gallon ones. Store half pint ones inside of pints or quarts.