• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

One Time Through

Parent smarter...not harder!

  • Home
  • About
    • Philosophy
    • Disclosure
    • Subscribers Only
  • Positive Parenting
    • Character Series
    • Positive Parenting Book List
  • Play & Learn
    • Science Fun
    • Language
    • Math
    • Sensory
    • Arts & Crafts
    • Holidays
    • Printables
    • Love to Learn Linky
  • Subscribe Here!

You are here: Home / Environmental / Earth Day – Landfill and Recycling Factory Play

Earth Day – Landfill and Recycling Factory Play

April 20, 2014 by Sue Lively

After sorting all the different kinds of waste items he found floating in his “ocean” Earth Day Sensory Bin, Onetime wanted to know where garbage goes.  SO…we created a Landfill sensory bin and a Recycling Factory!

landfill and recycling factory play

Amazon Affiliate links have been included. Read our Disclosure for full details.

To begin, we got out one of Onetime’s favourite toys – his Wader Grip Garbage Truck!  We talked about how garbage is taken in a truck to a Landfill.

To make our Landfill, I filled an empty container with brown shredded paper for soil and then topped it with green shredded paper for grass.

Then Onetime got his truck and filled it up with the garbage items we had put there from our sorting (see this post to get the printable garbage pictures.)

earth day bins 047Once Onetime got the truck to the Landfill, I told him how garbage is just put in a hole in the ground and covered with dirt.  So – that’s what we did with the garbage pictures!

We also talked about how many of those items would remain there forever, just covered up and hidden. Did you know it will take over a million years for a glass bottle to break down and that many plastics never will?

It was really interesting to watch Onetime’s facial expressions as I was explaining this concept to him.  He seemed to find it confusing, as I think any rational person does when they really think about this!

landfillNext – we got the compost pictures from the Earth Day Bin and also drove them to the Landfill bin.  We buried those as well but talked about how with time, those items would all gradually become a part of the soil with the help of earthworms and bacteria.

earth day bins 052Last, we talked about how recyclable items go to a Recycling Facility to be made into new things.  Onetime was really interested in this idea and when I asked if he wanted to make a factory – he eagerly agreed!

At this point, we had already read The Magic School Bus Gets Recycled a few times and Onetime had a basic understanding of what a recycling factory looks like and does.

Although, it’s difficult to find new copies of this book, I highly recommend it for kids aged 2 to 8. It has a great overview of what goes on in a recycling facility and the Magic School Bus series of books are always highly engaging and full of fun!

Back to our play – to make our recycling facility, we got a box, a couple of toilet paper tubes, some paper for signs, and permanent markers to decorate.

earth day bins 074Onetime really enjoyed decorating his factory!  We also made a door large enough for his truck to pull up and make deliveries. (And no, I’m not being paid to advertise for Gingerale!)

earth day bins 082After our Recycling Factory was made, Onetime had a lot of fun bringing the recyclable items to the factory and dumping them inside.  We talked a bit about what kinds of things the factory would make using the items – new paper, egg cartons, new cans, etc.

Onetime seemed to really enjoy learning about where all the different kinds of garbage go!  I think that next week when the garbage goes out, he’ll have a whole new perspective on things!

After delivering all our waste to the appropriate places, Onetime continued to play with the Earth Day Sensory Bin, his homemade Recycling Factory, and Landfill for almost an hour. Definitely – a rich learning activity!

Do you have some ways to encourage your children to think about waste reduction? I’d love to hear them!

To find even more fun and educational activities as well as positive parenting tips, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

And if you don’t want to miss out on any more of the fun we have here at One Time Through, sign up for our NEWSLETTER today. You’ll receive notifications by e-mail of new posts and you’ll also receive access to your exclusive FREE copy of all our newest printables.

I hope you give this homemade landfill and recycling factory play a go! Happy Earth Month!

http---signatures.mylivesignature.com-54492-148-B2524E373EB83CD9208A38EFC01C9FF5 (1)

 

 

Check out other Earth Friendly ideas for young minds on our Pinterest Board!

Follow One Time Through’s board Earth Friendly Activities on Pinterest.

Filed Under: Environmental, Make-Believe, Play, Science, Sensory Play Tagged With: recycling

« Earth Day Sensory Bins
Help the Birds! DIY String Feeder »

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Search the Site

Connect

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
Welcome to One Time Through

Search Our Topics

Blogging Series

Character Series
Positive Parenting Series

Recent Posts

  • Raise an Environmentalist with Great Kids Books
  • Celebrate Earth Day with Your Kids in Meaningful Ways
  • 35 Ways to Teach Kids About Money
  • Stunning Spring Art Projects for Kids
  • 10 Ways to Enrich Your Child’s Pretend Play

Find Stuff!

Learn With Play Book

Tags

airplanes anxiety bathtime birds Canada Day Christmas counting Creativity discipline early reading Earth Day Easter eggs emotional health experiments Fall Father's Day featured feelings firefighters flowers food allergies grandfather Halloween haunted house listening making books New Years ocean ornament painting peanut allergy phonics playdough positive parenting process art recycling resilience Santa seeds self-esteem Spring St. Patrick's Day Valentine's Day Winter

POPULAR

Must Read Positive Parenting Books

Footer

CONNECT

I'm a behaviour therapist, turned elementary school teacher, turned mom of one amazing son, referred to as "Onetime" in this blog. I'm so happy to have you join me in this adventure of creating, observing, and celebrating life and parenthood! Read More…

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
Raise an Environmentalist
35 Fun Ways to Teach Kids About Money
Spring Art Square
10-Ways-to-Boost-Imaginative-Play
Brown Bird Closeup

Copyright © 2018 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress