Meat detector on show at Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre

When 10-year-old Nicky Morton arrived at the winter workshop set up at the Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre, he had his heart set on building a tank.

"I was coming in to make a tank but then I changed my mind to a meat detector. I couldn't find the resources that I would have needed to make a tank."

Why would anyone need a meat detector?

"To find meat and for people that love meat it would be a very handy resource," Nicky responded.

Nicky Morton, who goes to Fordell School, was one of a group of kids at the winter workshop on Thursday all creating interesting pieces of art.

The workshop was set up for anyone who wanted to do a bit of art and craft with donated and recycled items.

Jars, bottle lids, plants, cardboard, paper and a number of other items are splayed about the room on tables set up for working at.

"There was one boy that arrived, he spent about half an hour walking around and looking at everything before he actually did anything," said volunteer Lyn Pearson who was one of the organisers.

"They're self-directed workshops ... we come up with a theme and an idea. People could either stick to that or come with their own ideas."

Pearson walked around the room showing off various creations.

"One of the mums is doing a wonderful decoration of jars. We've got some paper folding ... this is really interesting, he can fit his head in here," she said, pointing to a mask one kid had made using black paper, bottle caps and other products glued together.