Ask students to bring in a variety of materials from home that their families would otherwise throw away. Have them create sculptures from the materials that they bring, providing paint, glitter, glue and other supplies if you wish. Bring in stacks of old magazines and newspapers, and have the children create collages. Use this as a learning opportunity, asking them to try to find action verbs or pictures of various adjectives. Other projects could include decorating old jars and jugs for planting flowers, painting a milk-carton birdhouse, creating a bug-mobile out of egg cartons or making Christmas ornaments out of recycled-paper mache or old aluminum cans.
Whether it's an outdoor wall or a big roll of paper on the floor, murals inspire creativity and teamwork. Pick an overall theme like the rain forest, the desert, ancient Rome, American history or farm life. Let students paint or color whatever images they want that deal with the theme, or give them some guidance by blocking in a few larger shapes. You can also have the youth color on pavement with chalk. Ask older children to select a magazine photo to replicate, and divide the photo into a grid. Assign each student a square of the grid to work on, encouraging everyone to pay attention to what the students around them are drawing.
When Christmas time or Valentine's Day rolls around, kids can participate in art projects related to the season. Have students make and exchange cut-out hearts or heart-shaped doilies for Valentine's Day. Snowflakes or Christmas trees make great holiday greeting cards, and Egg-shaped cards work well for Easter. Ask students to draw pictures and send decorated letters to children in the hospital during the holidays, have older students carve intricate designs on pumpkins for Halloween or have students design Christmas ornaments that they can take home.
Children do not have to simply draw a picture or create a clay statue; they can also make objects that they can use. Give them some beads and string to make jewelry, or let older children twist old wires or silverware and glue on recyclable materials like typewriter keys or computer cogs to make rings or bracelets. Have them paint a light-switch cover, or give them some colored rocks and let them decorate a picture frame, a belt or an old pair of shoes. Give them fabric paint to decorate an old shirt or a cloth grocery bag, have them make coasters or candlesticks, give them wax to make candles, let them embellish the face of a clock or let them construct and decorate vases.