At Citywise when we speak about kindness, we like to speak about kindness to ourselves, kindness to others and kindness to the planet. This last category is just as important as the others.
One big way we can be kind to the planet is to to help the environment become a cleaner space. To do that, it is vital that we reduce, reuse and recycle. We can do this for example by reusing clean recycled items to transform them into new products. This Recycling Station activity will help you sift through your recycling. This will make it easier to decide what can be reused and what needs to be recycled.
The Recycling Station Activity is a great tool to not only try out ways to live sustainably, but to show children how vital it is that we show kindness to our planet, even if it’s starting with the smaller ways of doing so.
Let’s get started!
Material
What you’ll need:
- 2x plastic tubs or cardboard boxes
- Paper
- Markers
- Pile of recycling
Step 1: Gather Up!
This step will take a week to complete. Take a tub and label it ‘Recycle’. Then start gathering your pile of recycling.
Step 2: Sort!
Once you reach the end of the week, begin to go through your box of recycling. Check that all the items can definitely be recycled where you live. Then take the second tub and label it ‘Reuse’. Time to get creative!
What could you clean and reused?
Some things that can be easily cleaned and made into something else are:
- Shoe boxes or cardboard boxes
- Plastic bottles and bottle tops
- Tin cans
- Egg cartons
- Toilet roll
- Jars
Now you have gone through the recycling and have decided what can be reused, take something out of the reuse box and get creating!
Step 3: Create!
Choose items in the reuse tub to make crafts with your family and friends!
Below are some pictures to inspire your imagination.
The pictures above were taken from the below links. Explore these for lots more ideas!
- DIY Ideas With Recycled Shoe Box
- Upcycled Plastic Bottle Cap Art
- Green crafting: 10 of the best recycled crafts for preschoolers
- 6 Earth Day Crafts From Recycled Materials
- 20+ Cool Plastic Bottle Recycling Projects For Kids
For items that are more substantial, they can be made over to be decoration or for another purpose. For example, a glass bottle can be used as a vase to hold flowers, or a takeaway container can be used as Tupperware.
Amazing! You have a recycling station! When it comes to the time of the week to sort through the recycling, give each person in your family a job to involve everyone. This will make it a fun learning experience for the kids!
We would love to see your Recycling Stations and how creative you’ve made it! Remember to tag us if you post about this activity with #citywiselovesrecycling or @citywiseuk on Instagram and Facebook.
