Rah! Rah! Recycling

Objective:

Children will learn the difference between recyclable plastic and paper products, and work together to sort them.

What You Will Need

• Protective gloves – adults and children
• Clean, empty paper and plastic recyclables from home or the classroom, such as the following:- cereal, cookie, or cracker boxes
  - plastic bottles
  - juice boxes
  - plastic tubs
  - newspapers
  - magazines
  - paper scraps
• Recycling bin for bottles and cans
• Recycling bin for paper
• Drawing paper
• Crayons
• Old bedsheet or shower curtain – 1

What To Do

1. Spread the recyclables around the bedsheet placed on the floor.
2. Begin a conversation about recycling (see Did You Know?).
3. Place a bottle and can recycling bin and a paper recycling bin in the center of the circle.
4. Demonstrate how to sort the recyclables, placing them in the appropriate bin.
5. Ask children to put on protective gloves and then place the objects into the appropriate recycling bin.
6. Distribute crayons and paper and ask each child to draw a picture of something that would go into the bottles and cans recycling bin or into the paper recycling bin.
7. Have the children hang their picture above the appropriate containers.
8. Discuss their sorting and whether it was correct.

Guiding Student Inquiry

• Discuss why and how we recycle things.
• Do you know what happens to the things in the recycle bin?
• When you are at home, where do you put your recyclables?
• Why do we separate the paper from the plastics?

Explore, Extend and Integrate

• Throughout the day, try to emphasize ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle in the classroom. Save broken crayons and reuse them for art projects or melt them down and let the children make “new” crayons. When children are done drawing a picture, encourage them to use the back of the page rather than using a new piece of paper. Tell them why you turn off the lights each time you leave the classroom.
• Add “Recycling Monitor” to your job chart.

Check for Children's Understanding

• Could children identify which container the recyclable item best fit?
• Can children talk about why recycling is important to the health of their classroom and to the Earth?
• Do children understand what kinds of things recycled materials can be used to make?

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This program is made available through the PNC Grow Up Great program. Designed for teachers to use flexibly with existing curricula, we collaborated with our grant partners to develop resources and lessons to enhance hands-on learning for young children. Check out more lessons from PNC Grow Up Great.