Hanging by a Thread – creative making with recycled materials

photo: a happy young man is holding a red fabric bird in one hand and a stripy lumpy thing in his other hand. Both have paper features stuck on - we can see the glue, it's not yet dry!

At last, something great to make with those odd old socks!

DIY Associate Artist, Nerissa Cargill Thompson has made this series of fantastic education resources to accompany our sensory show Hanging by a Thread.

Nerissa’s own work explores environmental issues like climate crisis, plastic pollution and waste through textile art using recycled materials and mixed media sculptures of textiles and concrete cast in the plastic packaging that we use and discard on a daily basis.

We had a lot of fun with Nerissa – using recycled materials to create flowers, maps and crazy creatures. We hope you find the resources fun to use and helpful in initiating discussions around environmental themes.

Free Activity Ideas – all using recycled materials

All use readily available unwanted materials such as the inside tube from loo rolls, egg boxes and old socks! There’s an extra sheet to show you how to make your own glue from rice.

How to make creatures from old socks

How to make flowers from loo roll tubes

How to make flowers from old magazines

How to make flowers from recycled egg boxes

How to make old style maps from old paper and used teabags

How to make your own glue from rice.

 

We are very grateful to Arts Council England who are funding this work.

Arts Council England logo

‘Hanging by a Thread’ – created and performed by actors with learning disabilities.