Recycling old makeup (Activities for preschoolers)

More likely than not, as a busy mom, you sure have a ton of make-up products collected over the years. Ranging from your high school and college days to your wedding torsseau to the times when you vowed to practice some self care and bought a ton of lotions, creams and what not while out shopping for your baby stuff. And now they sit collecting dust, some untouched, some half used, some previously loved now hated, some expired in the last decade. It’s time to purge that old make up and not just throw away those darn expensive things but recycle them. Let the kids have fun with it, indulge in some art and activities, make a mess and make you feel less guilty.

Read on for some hacks and easy art activities you can do with your old make up plus how you can make the best DIY play doh and slime featuring some of your beauty products.

Fluffy 3-ingredient play doh

After trying out multiple play dough recipes, I once decided to add something lying around in my drawers for the past 8 years and that did the trick. Body lotion! No cream of tartar, no cooking. Moist, fluffy, non toxic, pleasant smelling and super fun.

You will need:

• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1/4 cup salt
• 1-2 tbsp of body lotion, as required.

Also

• About 1/4 cup of water and some colouring agents  (think food colour / shimmer eyeshadow / bronzer / glitters). Heat the water slightly and dissolve your colouring ingredients until you get a strong dark shade.

Take the flour and salt in a bowl and mix well. Add in half of the body lotion and half of the coloured water. Knead with your hands. Add in more lotion and adjust the water quantity accordingly until you get a smooth fluffy dough.

Shimmer DIY Slime:

In the past few months there is a slime craze on the internet and so many recipes floating around. Honestly I was too lazy to make one but when my kids saw all those DIY Slime making videos, their play doh was just not good enough. And that got me searching for recipes and trying out different combinations. Finally I found that firstly, I was in love with the slime texture and it’s quite easy to make with just 3 ingredients, which are all really easy to find.

3-Ingredient basic slime recipe:

• 1/4 cup of white glue / fevicol
• 1/2 tsp or more Baking soda
• 1/2 tbsp or more carrom board powder (boric acid powder)

For the shimmer slime: Add in all those old eye shadows, glitter palletes , that face illuminator which makes you look orange, the remains of your highlighter, a little bit of nail polish even and anything else you wanted to throw out.

Take the glue in a bowl. At this point add all your colourful and glittery old make up. If the colour doesn’t take well, go in with a drop or two of food colour. Mix until uniform. Now add the baking soda and carrom powder and beat vigorously until it reaches slimy consistency, starts leaving the sides and every tiny bit sticking to the walls get incorporated. This may take some vigorous beating and up to 5 minutes. You may also need to gradually add a pinch more of the baking soda and carrom powder if you don’t see any reaction happening.

Art with make up

Eye pencils, lip liners, lip stick and nail paints:

All of these can double as art supplies that give vibrant colour. Perfect for colouring, making posters, cards or just some general baby led art, read scribbling to hearts content (let’s just hope and watch out that it’s only permissible surfaces!)

Eye shadow oil paint palletes:

Eye shadows can make for really great oil painting. Just take a small quantity of coconut oil for dipping with an old make up brush (or even a cleaned mascara brush for some textured painting) and colour away!