Resourcefulness and an Endless Supply of Projects

"Giving things and materials a second life as something else can be one of the most satisfying of creative expressions" Amanda Blake Soule, the Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections

One of the best pieces of advice I've gleaned from my reading is the power of resourcefulness. In the Creative Family, Soule describes her maternal grandmother who raised her children alone during the Great Depression with virtually no income in rural Maine. Despite their impoverished circumstances their lives were filled with love, adventure and creativity. "Nothing was thrown away, and everything was given new life as something else once its original purpose was complete."
Being resourceful with my kids is genius: it helps me come up with projects on the spot because I don't have to do any prep time or pick up any materials. It saves us money and keeps my kids humming happily, but most importantly resourceful nurtures creativity. A box becomes a candy house or a boat, a drinking straw is a roof on a card decoration, yesterday's newspaper is a cafe menu or a crown. When my kids have to come up with the building blocks for a scarecrow or turn a cereal box into a boat they are learning lots. That motivated problem-solving rivals anything an expert could come up with to develop their minds and imaginations.

Soule encourages using leftover food (beans, grains), leaves, pinecones, bark, garbage (as in trash! think of great art pieces made out of recyclables), old clothes, rocks, etc. Over the years I've purchased scrapbooking supplies, a hobby I don't always have much time to do anymore. I've been repurposing some old items for their projects. Last week they made a "candy house" and yesterday they made thank you cards for their grandparents and great-grandparents. I was amazed- they did everything on their own- using bits of yarn, ribbon, even independently thought up the idea of using a leftover drinking straw for a roof. They're really getting it- the sky's the limit for fun projects when we think of ways to use what's on hand.