Marvelous Mobiles

• Tell me things that you use every day and throw away when you are done. Do you put any in recycling containers? Could you?
• We made mobiles from recycled materials. Can you think of other things we could make?
• What do you think we could do with toys/books/art supplies/furniture when we no longer need them?
• Can you think of other things that we recycle that we could use for our mobiles?

• Let the children take their mobiles outside and see how they move when the wind blows or when the children gently wave them around.
• Encourage the children to experiment with the length and position of the strings while keeping their mobiles balanced. 
• Explore other ways to create mobiles. Use something other than a hanger on which to attach the pieces. You could use sticks gathered outside, straws, or paint stirring sticks from a paint store. You could use a hula hoop and create a single, large mobile all together.
• Put a variety of plastic containers in your discovery area. Include magnifying glasses, paper, and crayons or markers. Encourage the children to look at the bottoms of the containers. What do they notice? What are the numbers for? Are the numbers the same on each container? Can the children draw and compare the symbols and numbers that they see? Explain that the numbers are a code that tells what kind of plastic is used to make each container. This information helps to sort the containers when they get to the recycling center.

• Did each child understand that they were reusing materials (using an old object for a new purpose) as a form of recycling?
• Did the children understand that the mobile was art?

Creating less waste, trash, and garbage is one of the best ways to help our environment. One way to do that is by reusing things rather than buying brand new products. There are many ways to reuse something. You can sell or donate things that you are done using. Appliances, tools, clothing, books, furniture, and toys are easy to sell at a yard sale or donate to a charity. Making and transporting a new product requires a lot of natural resources and energy. By reducing waste and reusing products, we can reduce pollution and the amount of trash that accumulates in landfills.

A mobile is a form of moving sculpture invented by an artist named Alexander Calder. A mobile is typically made from materials or objects balanced on the ends of pieces of wire so that the mobile, when hung up, can move naturally in currents of air. Alexander Calder created mobiles in a range of sizes, from very small to some weighing hundreds of pounds and spanning more than 25 feet. His mobiles are displayed in many museums in the United States, including some in Philadelphia and Washington D.C.

• mobile – a kind of artwork that hangs and is made of objects that are balanced on lengths of wire so that it moves when air blows around it.
• reduce – to use less or to make smaller.
• reuse – to use something more than once.
• hang – to put up or fasten something to a wall or ceiling.
• sway – when something swings back and forth or side to side, it is swaying.
• balance – the state of being steady; not leaning.

• The end of a wire hanger can be sharp; you may want to wrap it with a piece of masking tape. Or you can use plastic hangers.
• For children who have difficulty tying, you can tie some pieces of string onto their hangers before you begin the lesson.

• Stuff!: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle by Steven Kroll
• Alexander Calder and His Magical Mobiles by Jean Lipman
• Sandy’s Circus: A Story About Alexander Calder by Tanya Lee Stone