Recycling activities for kids – get them involved! – Mummascribbles

I think it’s safe to say that we are all now fully aware of the impact that we are having on the environment and the fact that we all need to make changes at home for the future of our planet, and the future of our children. I have become far more conscious recently of the things I am doing, and I have swapped cotton wool pads for reusable ones, and I have bought some reusable wipes for the house so we aren’t using as many baby wipes (I know that in reality I should be scrapping baby wipes altogether, but I can’t quite bring myself to that when we are out and about). I also bought some non slip mats for our trays when we eat after the kids in the evening, as previously we were using kitchen towel to stop the plates slipping and then throwing it away – which is a huge waste in not only money, but also paper and trees. These changes may be very small things, but it is a huge start in changing our habits for the sake of the environment.

The one thing that we have always been pretty good at is recycling. We are very lucky that we have a council that pretty much recycles everything. Plastics, cans, glass, cardboard, green waste and food. You name it, we can pretty much recycle it. Of course we need to start thinking about the amount of plastic we use, but again, recycling everything we can is really important whilst we are starting to change our habits. 

Something that I think is super important is introducing the reasons behind recycling to the boys. They aren’t born with the knowledge about environmental issues and it is up to us to teach them about such things – so that we can encourage them to think about the things they are using, how they are disposing of them, and the effect it all has on the planet. 

If you are looking to do the same, here are seven recycling activities for kids – to get them more involved

Recycling activities for kids: The coloured bin game

We have had different coloured bins at home for ages now and we find that it really helps with the kids recycling their materials. We have a red lidded bin for general waste, a green lidded bin for cardboard and glass (we don’t ever have much glass to recycle so we combined this), and a blue lidded bin for plastics. Generally, when Zach finishes something that needs to go in a bin, he will ask me what colour one it needs to go in. And when Oscar hasn’t just launched whatever it is he has finished across a room, I tell him what colour it needs to go in and he gets it right.

With food, we have a small green caddy box on the worktop and Zach knows that if there is food to be thrown away, that’s where it goes. Oscar isn’t quite there with the food bin yet, but if I see him trying to throw food away in the bin (which isn’t often!), I make sure I bring the caddy down to his level so he can throw it in there.

Recycling activities for kids: Fill the recycling boxes

By boxes, I mean the recycling boxes or bins that are supplied to you from your council. I know that different councils recycle different things and supply different things, so this will not be the same for everyone. We are supplied with three boxes and we can then get another two for free from our council, which we recently did as our recycling was overflowing! All of our boxes are out in our front garden and the kids can easily help me to sort them. I wouldn’t necessarily expect them to empty the whole bin from indoors, but where there are bits and bobs from the kitchen to pop in, they will happily take them for me and pop them into the relevant box. Having the boxes easily accessible means that they can help me and understand more about recycling.

Recycling activities for kids: Adopt a street

Again, this might be a very location specific thing, but our council allows us to adopt a street and we have just signed up. It was Zach’s idea after seeing someone in the park doing it and chatting to her – she told him that we just had to look online and so we went on, filled in the form, and the following week we received delivery of a litter picker, gloves and bags. He was very excited about it and we went out litter picking the day it arrived. And do you know what we found? 90% of the rubbish that we collected was recyclable! Mostly plastic bottles, a couple of glass bottles, cans, and lots of plastic food waste and KFC food packaging! So when we got home from our litter picking, I was able to sort through the rubbish and pop the majority of it into our recycling boxes.

Recycling activities for kids: The remember the shopping bag game! 

I will admit that I am a bit of a nightmare at remembering to take bags to the shops with me. Often I am in a rush leaving the house, or distracted at trying to get one or both of the kids out, and find myself bagless at the checkout in Sainsbury’s. Of course, havig someone to remind me to take a bag with me is super helpful, so I have been trying to encourage Zach to remind me to grab a bag out if we about to head to the shops. It’s good for his brain right?!

Most of the time I do have the buggy with me and so when Zach asks me if I need a bag at the checkout, I just say no and that I can pop it at the bottom of the buggy. Or if I only have a couple of items and no buggy, I just carry them. But if he can just remind me in the first place, that is far better! 

Recycling activities for kids: Get them out into nature

If they appreciate the beautiful nature around them, they will start to appreciate how recycling helps their environment. I know that when we are out in our local country park, we often see rubbish littered around in the trees, on the grass, or in the streams and rivers. It’s the perfect time to explain to them about the effects that wasting paper at home has on trees, or how the plastic bottles strewn into the water can affect the wildlife. If they come to understand the effect these things have from an early age, they will be more understanding as to why we try to recycle everything we can.

Recycling activities for kids: Get creative

Kids love a bit of crafting don’t they? And recyclable materials are perfect for getting creative with!

Got a load of toilet roll tubes or bottle tops lying around? Help them to learn what is recyclable by letting them be creative with the materials that can be recycled. This way, they are more likely to remember what is recyclable and what is general waste.

For plenty of recycled craft inspiration, you can check out Pinterest.

Recycling activities for kids: Take them to a recycling plant

I had a little Google and it seems there are a few places dotted around the country where you can visit the local recycling plant and see what happens to the recycling once we have had it taken away. Some of them even have little educational set up where they can sit and learn all about it. I know that my boys would absolutely love this so I’ll be seeing if there is anything offered in our area.

There are your seven ways to encourage recycling activities for kids and get them involved in all things rubbish! If you are looking for recycling guides, or facts and figures that you can inform your kids about, I have discovered this great little website (thanks Google!) with all sorts of information it.

Do you have any other ideas about getting kids more involved and thoughtful about what is to be thrown away and what is to be recycled? I would love to know 🙂

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