Nature Quest

NATURE QUEST ACTIVITY

Upcycling for Nature

Recycling is really important, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun, too! Why not convert your waste into works of art and make rubbish a riot?

Don’t throw that milk carton away! Why not recycle it? There’s tons of stuff you can do with your rubbish!

It’s amazing how colourful packaging is. You can let your imagination go wild when creating animals and habitats from household waste.


Upcycling for nature is an easy activity and all you really need are lots of different types of packaging. In short, you’ll require:

• Lots of different types of packaging and other recycling, such as sweet wrappers, plastic bottles, boxes, cardboard, and crisp packets.
• Paints, felt pens and colouring pencils to make your craftwork super snazzy.
• Scissors
• Glue and sticky tape

1. Go about your day normally, but think carefully about your waste and its impact on the environment. Separate your rubbish into the appropriate bins, washing any recycling before throwing it away or using it for your craftwork.

2. See if you can find any natural-looking colours in your recycling, and use them to make recycled plant, insect or animal crafts.

Memory Game

Lay out around 20 natural and unnatural items on a tray or a defined area on the ground. Keep the items covered with a cloth until the children are all sitting round and can see them. Remove the cloth for 1 minute and once replaced ask the children to write down as many items as they can remember. The game can be adapted with more or less items/time depending on the ability of the children.

 Do you have a recycling policy at school with recycling bins available? If not, talk to the decision makers and see if recycling can be introduced. Start with plastic bottles and compostable waste.

Don’t forget to email or send us photos/drawings/writing to chirimutaronald@gmail.com or birds@zol.co.zw to demonstrate you’ve completed this activity.