Question by Serena: How can I encourage my students to recycle more?
I’m a Kindergarten teacher and am looking for some fun things to do with my kids to encourage recycling. We recycle everything we can already, but I know we can do more. I want to start these kiddos off early taking care of their environment.
Best answer:
Answer by crazycarl1o1
Take them on field trips, which show them the environment we are trying to save.
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Have a contest for them to get their families involved and see who can come up with the most creative recycling program in their own homes. Go around your school and let them pick up litter…with gloves on of course. You sound like a great teacher and thanks for getting those little ones off to a great start!!!! = )
how about having each student bring one recyclable item a week from home for the month and show them at the end of the month all th items that would end up in the land fill.make it a school project.maybe you could get some sort of recycle container to put all the stuff into for the month.I think this is a good idea maybe you can work this into a project for next years kindergarten class.good luck.
Young kids like rewards. It makes them feel good. I would recommend a sticker system. Set up a chart with all the kids names and date (weekly). Have them bring cans, glass, etc to collect in the classroom. Have a big bin so they can see the progress. Every time a student brings you something to recycle put a sticker on that date. There are a couple ways to reward them are:
1) At then end of the week announce the prince or princess or recycling and give them a crown made out of recycled goods.
2) Have them work for bottle bucks and save for a prize at the end of the week. Designate how many bucks each item is worth.
3) Allow a special privelage appropriate for a child …sit with the teacher or in a special chair, etc. lead a group song or read a book to the class or pick a video for the class to watch. This one all depends on the structure of your class.
Hope this help!
It would be nice to get parent sinvolved but I am sure you know that doesnt always work. I think parents might need to take an example from the kids on this one…after all they didnt grow up with this issue.
Talk to the head administrator about setting up the large bins for recycling at the school for the parents to use. Recycling aluminum is a great fundrasier for the school. It gives everyone a place to take their stuff and money towards things the school needs.
Give the kids each an item and let their little minds go to work! Have them to come up w/ the a creative way to reuse the item. I bet you will be surprised by their ideas.
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Get there parents involved, when you do this hopefully it will start a chain reaction and they will tell more people… Here are some fun websites for children to use to help them use recycling as a way of life, http://www.recycleroom.org/ , http://www.virtualrecycling.com/ , http://www.ollierecycles.com/
i hope this helps, and i love that you are trying to get the kids involved!!!! i wish there were more people like you out there!!!!
You could have them watch little 1/2 hour shows like “How It’s Made” on the science channel. It keeps surprising my kids to see everything that goes into making something. Teach them how to reuse everything they use. Have them cut out items from magazines and then paste them onto cardboard and then have them brainstorm about other functions for those items.
(Make sure you tell them the dangers of drinking soda. Encourage water consumption. I know that’s off subject, but I feel, very important)
You could make a game out of it with a prize for whomever collects the most, then perhaps have a field trip to take the booty to the recycle center…maybe let them see how it’s crushed?
You could also have times where you use recycled items. Maybe use egg cartons that would normally end up in the trash to start seeds in for a class garden?
Show them the end results. Show them all of the steps from recycling, going to the plants and let them see for them selves how the products are made. Plus you can show them the effects of landfills, all the pollution and the bad effects to having them in their areas.
show them movies about recycling , show them what happens when people dont recycle and the damage it does to the enviroment.
You know how some schools have canned goods drives for the hungry and give out prizes to the class with the most donated canned goods? Try that with recycling. Split them into teams, have them bring in stuff to recycle and the team with the most gets a prize. Maybe give them tickets to the zoo – it would get the parents involved too.
Make fun excercises with recycable materials but remember not to scare them by saying things like “the world will be underwater in a few hundred years and we’ll all be dead”.
Encourage them to promote green living at home by making posters and crafts to go in home windows, car windows ect…
How about something along the “reduce, reuse” theme? Give them examples of repurposing items, i.e. cutting photos from mags for art projects, etc. Divide them in teams and ask them to find items at home or in the classroom to reuse. Toilet paper rolls, paper bags, clothespins, newspapers, storage bowls, clothing, just about anything. Good Luck!
Take them around the school and show them how not recyling can cause enviromental problem.Maybe recycling compatition that they can win a prize for new ways to recycle they make up.
http://www.metrokc.gov/dnrp/swd/education/preschool-kindergarten.asp
http://www.brgov.com/recycle/pdf/teacher_packet.pdf
After discussing what recycling is, have students explain it to their parents and ask them to help create an art object out of things around their home that could be recycled.
Recycle old newspapers and/or paper from your classroom. In our state there is a project where your school can actually collect and recycle paper and they can earn money for school. Offer them a party of some sort to the class who does the best! Be creative with the prize! Make it appropriate to the cause!
Good job, teach!
Tell them what happens when they litter, that it stays there until someone picks it up.
You could always plant flowers for them to take home and care for. this will give them a sort of bond with nature and will start them off early taking care of the earth.
Might i suggest some incentive?
Some kids will really work for a reward. Maybe the flowers.
Take them to a recycle plant or go on a field trip to the supermarket and show them items that are made out of recycled materials. Good going!!!
talk to the principle about having a little enviormental day and plant flowers in the school yard and pick up trash out of the streets and then hold a seminar on recycle or maybe have a play about recycling and give every k-student a role.
aww thats cute..u could encourage them to recycle at home by saving stuff like plastic bottles and break them off to teams and at the end of a certain time like a month whoever wins get a little prize