Fiona Russell
Blogger | Avid Reader
Recycling doesn’t have to be chore. In fact, it can even be an activity that’s fun for the whole family! By turning your normal, boring recycling routine into a game, you’ll never have to let another recycling opportunity go to waste (go to waste, get it?). If you’re ready to get your kids excited about changing the world for the better, then these handy tips and tricks are for you:
Make Recycle Monsters
Recycle monsters are big, bad recycling boxes that love to gobble up certain kinds of trash. To start, make a Glass Monster, a Plastic Monster, a Paper Monster, and a Can Monster. Have fun with it: get out the glitter glue, the pipe cleaners, and, of course, tons of googly eyes. Your kids will love decorating the monsters almost as much as they’ll love feeding them when they’re finished!
Start a Recycling Olympics
A Recycling Olympics is a great way to get an entire group of kids moving around, having fun, and learning all about recycling. You can include these get-your-green-on recycling games, or even make up your own.
Designate a Recycling Mascot
Involving toys that your kids know and love is a great way to foster an interest in going green. Here’s how you can make sure your mascot is up for the challenge:
- Think of a Cool Recycling Name: Tom the Trashasaurus? Metallica the Rockin’ Recycler? When choosing a name, the sillier the better.
- Design a Mascot Uniform: No mascot is complete without an awesome outfit, and yours is no exception. Try suiting it up for its new job by sewing a mini cape or crafting a super cool green hat.
Make Art Out of Recycled Materials
With these neat projects, you can encourage your kids to Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle all while having tons of fun with their favorite messy art supplies. Try making:
- A Recycled Robot
- A Recycled Can Bird Feeder (CAN you believe how cool it is?)
- An Egg Can Caterpillar
The average person throws away about 1.5 tons of solid waste a year. Crazy, right? By making recycling a part of your child’s regular routine, you can teach them that even little environmental experts can have a big impact on making the world a better place.
About Fiona Russell
As a blogger for CogniToys, a startup focused on bridging the gap between education and play, Fiona spends a lot time of researching what matters most to parents and educators. She loves blogging about tech, learning, and everything in between. In her spare time, Fiona is an avid reader, and is currently working on a science fiction series for young adults.
View all posts by Fiona Russell here.
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9 Comments on “How to Make Recycling Fun for the Whole Family”
My grandson is big on recycling and loves being part of the Town’s cleanup project to keep our Town clean and to recyle!
I always encourage my kids to recycle. they love doing recycling. They always ask to whether I throw it in trash or recycle. We have a separate bucket for it.
My husband and I both recycle everything we can. I passed this on to my daughter , so many great ideas to do with my grandson.
Thank you so much for the great ideas to encourage recycling! I am fortunate enough to live in a city that provides pickup for recycling. I urge my nieces and nephew (okay, so the headlock was only used a few times…) to make a few extra steps and place their items in the recycling bin.
LOL Jean! The headlock! Glad your city make recycling easy for you!
My daughter recycles with my grandkids and makes it fun and they really enjoy helping recycle.
Great ideas! My grandson loves dinosaur. I think I’ll make a dinosaur recycling bin and name him Recycling Rex. My grandson will absolutely enjoy “feeding” him. Thanks!
I think my son would love the Recycle Monsters. He’s been a great recycler for a couple of years now (he’s 6). Before he throws anything away, if he doesn’t know for sure, he’ll ask if it’s trash or recycle. And he even brings home recyclables from his lunch when he brings it to school. Every little bit helps!!
Wow, Gail that’s so great that your son is already very dedicated to recycling! You must be proud!