Making Storage Boxes:

Overview: Encourage students to be a little more organized by using recycled boxes or cans in this art project. A little creativity is in order in guiding students in assembling materials into a storage unit for jewelry, cassette tapes, pencils, money, small toys, car keys or floppy disks. The variables are the types of materials you can get your hands on, and the age group you are working with. But nearly any student will benefit from this fun process of creating, then organizing.
Resources: Teacher: small boxes, frozen juice cans, cardboard, tape, colored paper, glue. Student: markers, crayons.
Teacher Preparation: locate materials: these may be items you already have on hand, or throwaway items from a business. Brainstorm ideas for the age group you work with: young children may need fairly large compartments to keep toys in, while high school students might need a place to toss keys and loose change. Set out materials on table.
Procedure Ideas:

1. Using tape or glue, students assemble materials into a storage unit of their, or your, choosing.
2. Have students decorate the finished pieces as they choose, or give them a style to work in. Teenagers, for example, could finish their projects using whatever they like, or they could be instructed to imitate a particular art style or recreate the look of a natural material, such as sand or rock.

Variations/Options: Students could design their pieces on paper first; can explain to class what the purpose of their piece is; use as a prototype for a business idea; solve a specific storage problem at home with their project.

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