Many of the toys and gadgets your students are expecting as holiday gifts are made from plastics made with soybeans or corn. Henry Ford experimented with soy-based plastics in the production of his cars. In 1940 he swung an axe at a car trunk to demonstrate the durability of soy plastics.
- Make your own plastic from cornstarch and vegetable oil:
- Great student-made holiday gift: Soy/Beeswax Lip Balm
- Soybean Facts
Writing Prompts
- Write about your first Christmas toy.
- Write a story about the best gift you ever gave to someone else.
- Felted Wool Crafts
- Cotton Boll Angel
- Holiday Decor With Wheat - Take a few stalks of wheat, spray them gold and tie them with a bright ribbon or bow, then fasten them to the tree with a piece of gold wire. Sprinkle on some gold glitter while the paint is wet and it will stick to the seeds.
- Origami in the shape of a lamb, a doll, or a pig.
- Paint long, hard dried okra with acrylic paint to look like Santa. Finish by spraying with polyurethane.
- Decorate strips of leather. (Leather is a product of the beef industry)
- Make use of shredded office paper to make pulp for Papier Mache ornaments. (Chewed Paper and Sticky Stuff)
- Make play dough, and shape it in the form of farm animals. Put a hole in the ornament before cooking. After cooking the ornament, glaze with spray varnish. Tie a string through the hole, and you have a keepsake.
- Stick cloves into crab apples, oranges or tangerines for an ornament that smells as wonderful as it looks.
- Scented Heating Pad With Grain (or legumes)
- Turn your leftover pumpkins into Christmas lawn art. Spray paint them white and use a long spike to hold two or three together. Decorate with old hats, gloves, and scarves.