Recycling for kids - Part 2
Record experiences
A Recycling for Kids theme offers many opportunities for young children to record their experiencest. After spending a week sorting, counting and weighing classroom compost, recycling and trash, students complete the following kindergarten-lessons.com handouts (also suitable for younger children).
The first activity requires the children to find and then cut and glue the items that can go into the compost pile. The second activity has the students sort items that can be recycled and items that must go in the landfill.
Compost activity
1. Photocopy or print one of each of the free science worksheets for each child. Be sure the child puts his/her name on each worksheet.
2. Complete the compost activity below first.
3. Save the rest of their pictures for the garbage and recycling page, for use later on in the week.
After some introduction and experiences with worms and composts, the students loved making their own representation of a compost pile with a flap that folds down to see what lives inside.
- The students color the inside picture and glue the correct items on to the compost pile.
- Then they cut out and glue on the flap.
- The students complete the picture by drawing birds, flowers, grass and worms on the outside with the flap closed. Make sure the glue is dry before closing the flap.
Recycling for kids compost resources:
Web resource:The Adventurers of Herman (a worm)
Books: A good introduction to the life of a worm -
Wiggling Worms at Work (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)
Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System
Recycling / Garbage activity
The students use the remaining pictures to finish the recycling/garbage page.
- Students cut and glue all the items that can be recycled on one side and the items that must go to the landfill on the other.
- Students can count the items and print the number in each column.
- Tip - print extra item sheets as someone always loses a few pictures.
A Buddy Activity - worm houses
Kindergarten children look forward to spending time with their older buddies. In this recycling for kids activity the children first have a short lesson on worms, worm castings, and worm burrows. The kindergarten children have already been introduced to the worm home material and review it with their buddies.
Then the buddies and kindergartens go outside armed with clipboards, pencils and the worm observation worksheets to look for worm homes.
School composts
There are many different types of composts for schools available to enhance a Recycling for Kids theme. Some of these are:
- compost tumblers
- plastic composts bins
- steel wire bins
- vinyl compost bins
- compost pockets (dig deep holes and bury in soil)
Good Ebooks about composting...
Environmental education pages:
Environmental education activities skills list
Environmental science
Free science worksheets
Green kids and Earth Day
What is Earth Day about?
Leaf rubbing planet Earth - art activity
Pressed plants art activity
Easter Science Activity
Outdoor ed. degree
Recycling for kids - Part 1
Recyling for kids - Part 2
Science books for children
Tree Seedling Experiments
Year long environmental activity ideas
Earth Day toys and resources
In Social Studies Section:
The Food Chain
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