Official Kids Mag

By Karen Rice | Official Kids Mag Some kids in our area recently competed in a very unique art contest. They created art while cleaning up the environment at the same time. That's because their artwork was made of litter that they had picked up in our area. Other people's trash…became their treasures! This is the third year of the "Tossed" competition that brings awareness to the public about the impact litter has on the environment and water quality through art. The project begins with kids collecting things others have tossed to the ground. This litter is found on or near streams, trails, parks, streets and neighborhoods. Then the trash is transformed into sculptures—with a little help from paint, glue, wire, screws, nails and lots of imagination. The sculptures were entered at the Benton County Fair in August. They were judged and received ribbons. This year because of Covid-19, the fair was very different, with only a day for Exhibitors and family members to view their sculptures with ribbons on them. It was also a virtual event so others could see their work. The public participated by voting on-line for their favorite and those top three winners in each class received gift cards. Take a look at some of these amazing works of art and read the stories behind them! tot division (5-8 years old) aubree S. - colorful garden - 1st place "I picked up litter in my neighborhood. Then, I made a garden with a butterfly, a flower, a rainbow, and grass. I used the litter, paint and glue to make a garden. It was fun!" (Learn more about Aubree, our Kid Hero this month, on page 28.) Reed W. - electric Lawn truck - 2nd place "I like cars and when I found a big Styrofoam cooler in a drainage pond I got the idea. We found discarded coupon books by our mailbox with the lawn care ads. The broken guitar became my seat back and gear shift (found in creek at Park Springs Park). We used a broken spoon for the windshield wiper and a Jenga block for the back windshield wiper. We added gas/brake pedals, door handles, knobs and dials and a phone charger-the charger for the electric car (it's battery powered, like a Tesla). We found the car emblem at Crystal Lake and the license play laying on a ball field. All trash was collected in Benton County between 3/21/20 and 7/27/20 except for 2 toilet paper rolls." ella W. - school House Playground - 3rd place "My mom, brother and I picked up litter on the roads close to our house. We found a firework mortar, Styrofoam, a plastic plant container, some wire, and long plastic straps at a construction site. From our recycling, we had a cat food container, a yogurt cut and cardboard. I am very excited about school starting so I can make some friends here and learn, so I made a schoolhouse playground with my mom's help. The Styrofoam is the grass. The slide is the firework shell, with wire ladder steps. The yogurt cup is the top of the slide, and a kid is made out of wire, and she is having fun sliding down. The slide is from long pieces of plastic straps. The sandbox is the cat food can with Styrofoam painted yellow. The playhouse is the plant box and I painted the doors and windows on. Then at every playground is a trash can that we are SUPPOSED to put our trash in. I put some scraps of the trash we pick up in it!" not pictured, Berkley - Bent gate Hayfield "My family and I have been recycling my whole life. We walk our dirt road a lot and have kept what little trash we find cleaned up. I helped Poppy clean out his barn and found some trash. The rest I got from our families' recycle bins. The base is a cardboard box. The fence is straws and the string came off the top of feed sacks. The road is the top of a feed sack. The windmill is a recycled bowl, a Gatorade lid, and the legs are old straws. The silo is a paper towel roll. The pond is cut from a take out container. The rocks are made form the wrappers of cough drops. The honeybee hive is a hand soap box. The bales of hay are made from an old sanding block, and the strings are from the feed sacks. The flag is from an old cattle magazine. I had so much fun designing and painting this project all made from trash." Youth division (ages 9-19) Yenuli W. - Barnyard - 1st place "This is a sculpture of a farm scene. I used a cardboard lid for the base. Making the cow and the calf was my favorite part. For the legs I used old plastic stamps and painted them. I made a pig and some piglets out of bottles and bottle caps. I used the plastic tray as the pig pen. I made a tractor using a razor case and Local kids create treasures… out of trash! 30 • SepteMBer 2020 • OfficialKidsMag.com

• Cover