Beautiful Junk Is Back: Giving Everyday Materials New Possibilities
Mohawk's Early Childhood Education program continues to turn everyday materials into opportunities for creativity, sustainability, and community connection.
What if something you were about to throw away could become a child's next great discovery?
The Early Childhood Education (ECE) program is continuing its Beautiful Junk Project, inviting the Mohawk community to rethink waste and discover the learning possibilities hidden in everyday materials.
Launched last year, Beautiful Junk encourages the collection and reuse of loose parts: everyday materials that children can explore, combine, build with, and transform through imaginative play. By giving these materials a second life, we can reduce waste while supporting creativity, problem-solving, and meaningful learning experiences for young children.
The project also connects to Mohawk College's sustainability goals, demonstrating how small, intentional actions can contribute to a more environmentally responsible community.
We're Collecting Beautiful Junk!
Have materials at home or in your office that could be put to good use? We would love to give them a second life!
Our current donation wish list includes:
- Loose parts: Buttons, corks, spools, golf tees, and assorted lids
- Textiles: Fabric scraps, ribbon, yarn, felt, and scarves
- Paper and cardboard: Cardboard tubes, small boxes, greeting cards, and paper samples
- Natural materials: Smooth wood offcuts and small wooden blocks
- Containers: Small baskets, clean tins, and reusable containers
All donations should be clean, in good condition, and free of sharp edges or other hazards.
Donation Drop-Off: M Building front desk, Fennell Campus
Beautiful Junk is about more than collecting materials. It is about seeing possibilities where others might see waste and supporting a culture of creativity, resourcefulness, and environmental responsibility.
Through this initiative, we continue to strengthen connections between Mohawk's ECE program and the broader early learning community, helping reusable materials find new purposes in children's learning environments.
Want to learn more or get involved? Contact Kerry Drake, ECE Faculty, at kerry.drake@mohawkcollege.ca.
Thank you for helping us build a more sustainable, creative, and connected learning community, one piece of beautiful junk at a time!
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