Recycling and taking care of the environment are important subjects kids need to learn about – but, let’s face it, they’re also not the most interesting topics.
But that’s where taking a creative approach to recycling can be a great way to teach kids about sustainability and saving the environment, while stimulating their creativity and crafting skills!
So if you’re on the hunt for some interesting school projects to do with a group of kids, the following school recycling projects are worth looking at.
They’re creative, educational, and engaging, but, most of all, they’re fun!
So let’s run through them. Here are the 16 best recycling projects for school that you need to try today.
First up: mini lid banjos! Nothing will excite kids more than making their own instruments.
These creative mini lid banjos look great and are just as fun to make, involving six items: jumbo craft sticks, loom bands, washi tape, duct tape, sequins, and craft glue.
So you don’t need much to make these DIY banjos. You’ll also need lids, which can be taken from any empty jars you have lying around. Jars are recyclable, after all, so this is a great way to teach kids about recycling.
Here’s a good one for younger kids. These toilet roll paper bunnies are easy to make and the end result makes a great decoration to put on their bedroom shelves. The best thing is that the kids can get creative with the painting!
To make these DIY toilet paper bunnies, you’ll need paper rolls, paint, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, small pom poms, white cardstock, colored cardstock, glue, and a black sharpie.
What better way to teach kids about recycling than by letting them create their own bird feeders? It’s also an awesome way to reuse any old milk bottles you have spare.
To make these milk bottle bird feeders, the items you’ll need are twine, a chopstick, scissors, a box cutter, markers or paint, an empty milk jug, and, of course, birdseed. Once made, simply wait for the birds to pay a visit!
Educate kids on the importance of recycling bottles by letting them make their own bottle cap snakes! These bottle cap snakes look great, and the more colorful the bottle caps (plastic caps) you can find, the better.
The best thing is that the bottle cap snakes are easy to make. The project mainly involves collecting bottle caps, piercing holes in them, and running a thread through the holes. The finishing touch is drawing a mouth and a pair of eyes!
This recycling project isn’t just fun, it’s practical, as the end result is a fashionable tote bag that kids will love to carry around school. It doesn’t involve sewing either, so it’s great for kids of any age.
To make these t-shirt tote bags, you’ll simply need a pair of scissors, pencil or chalk, and a knitted t-shirt. Striped or patterned t-shirts will work best, but the kids can choose any shirt they want depending on the design they want!
These egg carton flowers make great decorations, as well as pretty gifts for Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day!
All you need to make the egg carton flowers are cardboard egg cartons, paint, glue, scissors, a paintbrush, and some canvas or cardstock.
With this recycling project, kids can get as creative as they want with the painting and design of their flowers. As a result, it’s definitely one that will stimulate their imagination and unleash their inner artists!
What do you do with toothbrushes when they are too old to be used? You make toothbrush bracelets! This is a recycling project that’s sure to wow the kids.
It’s super simple to do, and involves removing the bristles and boiling the toothbrushes before bending them into shape.
Once done, the kids will have cool new bracelets to show off in class. It’s also the perfect excuse to grab a new toothbrush for yourself!
Above, we had milk bottle bird feeders and paper roll bunnies. Now, here are some fun paper roll bird feeders to make! This recycling project will teach kids about cardboard recycling, and is also great for feeding the local birdlife.
And it’s simple to make: all you’ll need are toilet paper rolls, popsicle sticks, twine, peanut butter, and birdseed. Yep, smother the rolls in peanut butter, then lay on the birdseed and wait for the birds to come!
Here’s a fun recycling project for school kids that results in a great decoration they can take home and display outside.
For these homemade wind chimes, the supplies you’ll need are cleaned out tin cans, paint, string, metal washers or nuts, hammers and nails, glitter, and tape.
As a result, kids can get super creative with the painting and glitter decorating. On a windy day, there’s no better educational project to give to the kids!
Don’t throw those egg cartons in the trash; use them to make egg carton mushrooms! The best thing is that these egg carton mushrooms really look like mushrooms.
And all it takes to make them is egg cartons, an x-acto knife, paint, paint brushes, and a hot glue gun.
The whole “mushroom” is created using egg cartons, and the painting part lets the kids get creative in designing their very own mushrooms. Since they are recyclable, these egg carton mushrooms can also be placed and left outside!
Here’s an awesome way to teach kids about recycling and the solar system in one fun school recycling project. And the end result really does look great!
These recycled planets are made from paper mache, so it’s a project that kids will also love getting hands-on with.
For this recycled solar system project, you’ll need paper mache and lots of paint. That’s all! Show the kids pictures of the various planets, then just let them get creative with it.
These newspaper party hats are a great recycling project for kids, and they’ll also get a fun hat to take home! You don’t need many supplies either, only newspaper, masking tape, flowers (real or made from paper), and scissors.
To make the project more fun, you can even introduce paint to let the kids really make their newspaper hats their own.
After making the mini lid banjos listed above, get the kids to make their own DIY coffee can drums.
You don’t have to use coffee cans either, as this fun kids’ recycling activity can also be made using any old tins you have lying around the house unused, such as biscuit tins.
Other supplies you’ll need include balloons, scissors, and some packing tape. That’s it! After they’re made, bring out the mini lid banjos and let the kids create their own music. All kids love instruments, after all!
Here’s a fun project that will teach kids about recycling and science in one. It’s also ideal if you also have an assortment of old or stunted crayons that are not getting used.
And the more crayons you have in different colors, the better these repurposed crayon gems will turn out!
This kids’ activity involves melting down the crayons and creating fun shapes from all the mixed colors. As a result, it’s also a great way to teach the kids about chemistry and how solids can be turned into liquids and vice-versa.
Kids love Lego – it’s a fact. So why not teach them about recycling by letting them make these Lego head mason jars? They’re easy to make and the end result makes for a great decoration!
And all you’ll need are mason jars, glossy yellow spray paint, and permanent markers.
What’s fun about this recycling project is that the kids will be able to design their own Lego heads using a variety of expressions. Once made, they can also take them home to display in their bedrooms!
Last but not least: cardboard playhouses! This recycling project involves painting, folding, cutting, and knotting, so it’s super hands-on. It’s also highly creative, as the kids will be able to paint their own designs onto their playhouses.
The supplies you’ll need for this kids’ school recycling project include paint, a hole punch, twine, a craft knife, and as much cardboard as you can find.
They can make terraces, houses, shopfronts, and more, so it’s also great for their creativity and imagination.
Conclusion
And there you have it: 16 recycling projects for school kids to try today. These projects are great activities that will teach kids how to recycle and what recycling does for the environment.
These school recycling projects are also fun and engaging, plus super creative!
Hi, my name is Helena Waters and I was a teacher for 40 years before retiring last year.
During my time as a teacher I dedicated the majority of it to making classrooms as fun as possible, with educational parties, fun activities, and low cost entertainment that made the children excited about learning.
I taught children of all ages, from preschoolers to high school students. Now, with the pandemic having uprooted everything that children once knew about school and learning, I think that the need for my ideas is bigger than ever.
That is why I created School Sparks, a place in which I can write down and share all of my ideas on how to get students excited about going to school again. I hope that you’ll find some useful within a school setting, even at home too!
