Sorting rubbish - free printable

Much to my surprise E. remembered last year's home-made selective rubbish collection activity and asked for it again. I didn't plan to do this sort of activity this year, but I was kinda gently forced. However, I prepared a follow up activity for her. (You can find the free printable at the end of the post)

So just like last year I collected some recyclable rubbish like plastic bottles, old newspapers and leaflets, egg carton, dog food cans and beer cans, bottles and containers made of glass etc. It wasn't too difficult as we hadn't emptied our own selective bins. I printed selective bin signs (plastic, paper, glass, metal) and stuck them on 4 shoe boxes. I prepared the recyclable rubbish in a plastic container (originally used for storing toys in it)

E. wasn't as fascinated about it as last year but she did the selection (I might have given her too many items to sort.) This year we added a little twist.

I asked her how she can decide what is made of which material. She didn't know.
I asked her while she was checking the objects:

- Can you rip it?
- Can you crumple it?
- Is it hard or can you squash it?

The bold words were new to her so when I asked these questions I showed her the actions.

So she tested every piece and then threw them in the right box. (Cartons were hard to rip but she tried anyway :)  )

While she was doing the sorting I told her how we use these materials to make other things, like new paper out of old cardboard and newspapers or shoes and backpacks out of plastic. She wasn't talking much but I hope she listened.

To reinforce selective rubbish collection with another activity that is different from the one last year I made a worksheet for her.

She needed to place recyclable rubbish in one group and non-recyclable in the other one. Y

We needed to discuss that dirty napkins cannot go to the recycle bin but should be thrown into the households rubbish bin.

Done!

Download free printable for the sorting rubbish task. Just click on the link.

Earth Day - recycling

April is dedicated to paying more attention to our planet, Earth. 22 April is Earth Day so we did some activities both in English and Hungarian to "celebrate OUR Earth" - as E. has put it modestly.

While we were painting, drawing and selecting we used plenty of special phrases. I'll put together a word list concerning Earth Day and recycling in one of my upcoming Earth related posts.

 But now, in this post, here comes some selective rubbish collection fun:

Preparation:

1. I prepared 5 boxes (4 shoe boxes and a blue, IKEA box)
2. Then I printed, coloured (you can print the bins on coloured paper) and stuck the bins with different labels (plastic, glass metal, paper) on the side of the shoe boxes.
3. I selected some rubbish items from our recycling bins:
   - beer cans
   - tins
   - a milk and juice carton
   - scraps of paper
   - magazines
   - a glass olives jar
   - a cider bottle (glass)
   - plastic bags
   - bottle tops and plastic bottles
   - yogurt cups (etc.)
4. I placed the rubbish in the blue box.
5. I let E. do the selecting.

First, she was checking what is what, which went with several questions.

She didn't really know how to make a difference between the different materials although she had been helping sort out the rubbish in our everyday life.

So I asked her a few questions and showed her the actions at the same time:
- Can you crumple it up? (And I was crumpling up a piece of paper)
- Can you tear it? (tearing a piece of the magazine's cover)
- Is it flexible? (I was smashing a yogurt cup)
- Is it hard? (knocking my finger against the glass)

She was copying me while I was showing her crumpling, tearing or smashing.

And she got the hang of it:

I also mentioned to her that we need to flatten the cartons so she tried it.

Having finished we took the boxes to our selective bins and put them in their designated places.

E. was really excited about recycling and rubbish selection. Before dinner she wanted to watch "recycling videos". And she did. Here they are:

Peppa Pig - recycling

Betsy's Happy Earth Day

Mother Goose Club - Earth is our home

What is recycling for children? - HooplaKidz

Happy Earth Day, Everybody!