How to Recycle Rice Bags

Rice bags are used for shipping rice in bulk. They are sometimes made of burlap and other times made of a biodegradable cloth, depending upon where the rice was shipped from. The bags often have intriguing designs on them that make them effective for quilt, purse or wallet designs. Recycling and reusing rice bags can be done by using them as plant protection in the winter and as sapling sacks for new trees. There are also many opportunities to reuse the rice bags within an elementary classroom while working rice into a lesson plan.

Instructions

• 1

  Fill rice bags with sand to use in classrooms. They make great "lounge chairs" and "pillows" for reading corners.

• 2

  Cut a hole in the bottom of the rice bag, large enough for a head to slip through. Cut one hole in each side of the rice bag, large enough for an arm to slide through. Slide the rice bag over the child's head. The rice bag will make a perfect painting and art smock to help protect the child's clothing.

• 3

  Use the rice bags in the classroom to store balls, jump ropes, games, art supplies or any other hard to store items, such as bean bag toss game sets and holiday decorations.

• 4

  Insert one kindergarten nap mat into the each rice bag and sew the open end of each bag together with a sewing machine. The bags will become effective covers for the nap mats to be used for seating mats on the floor in the classroom, which will hold up better than the plastic nap mats alone.

• 5

  Use the rice bags for sack races. Give each child one sack. Instruct the child to stand inside of the rice bag and hold onto the sides. When told to begin, the sack racers will try to run or hop forward within the sack for a fun-filled, old-fashioned type of race.

• 6

  Cut the rice bags along the seams to cut them in half. Wipe them down well, as some bags may have rice residue on them. Using a large black permanent marker and a ruler, draw a large checker board on the white side of the rice bag. Using black and red permanent markers, color in the squares appropriately. Coloring in the squares is an enjoyable project for students in the classroom to accomplish. Upon completion, use two large discs cut out of a cardboard box, also colored with the red and black pens. You can also use large discs cut out of card-stock and have them laminated to use as the checkers. Oversized checker boards make fun rainy day games when recesses are inside.