National Recycling Week runs from 9 to 15 November 2026! This year’s theme is Join the Cycle, and it’s all about how we can keep valuable materials in use, while also thinking about what happens to the things we throw away.
For young children, sustainability is something they can see and take part in every day! Sorting a container after lunch, reusing a box for play or helping care for a garden can all spark questions about waste, resources and looking after the world around us. And, it can be a whole lot of fun too!
Here’s a few ways to get involved – not just this week, but all the time!
Make sorting part of the routine
Set up clearly labelled bins with pictures of familiar items.
Allocate a specific time of day and get children to help decide where packaging belongs. Talk through the choices together – make sure you check your local council’s recycling guidance so children learn what can go in each bin in your area.
This can be a useful moment for questions too: Is this made of paper, plastic or something else? Could we use it again? What do we do when we’re not sure?
Take it even further if you can – do we need to package this item or is this packaging unnecessary?
Become Waste Detectives together!
Invite children to become waste detectives by exploring a small collection of clean, safe packaging from the service. What do they notice? Is there something that appears again and again? Could any of it be avoided or used another way?
Clean, safe boxes and cardboard tubes can become building materials, pretend-play props or part of a collaborative artwork. Try the Bonkers way and make your own recycled drums or other musical instruments!
Their ideas can lead in unexpected directions, from a shop or cubby to a whole imaginary town.
Turn recycled materials into music and movement
A sturdy, clean cardboard box can become a surface for tapping out a rhythm. Children might copy a beat, make up their own or move around the room in time with the sounds. It’s a playful way to explore rhythm and movement while noticing that materials can have more than one use.
Keep the activity flexible: children can join in by moving, listening, watching or making sounds in their own way.
Try a lunch with less waste
Planet Ark’s Waste-Free Lunch Challenge is a practical way to get families involved in National Recycling Week.
For services that provide meals, adapt the challenge to your own kitchen and snack routines. Could an individually wrapped item be replaced with something served from a larger container?
Talk with children about the changes and notice how much packaging is left afterwards. You can find a free guide through Planet Ark’s Schools Recycle Right resources.
Keep the conversation going
Recycling Week can be a starting point for everyday conversations about caring for the environment. Children might help water plants, use both sides of a drawing sheet or think of ways to look after toys and shared resources.
These small experiences also connect with the National Quality Standard’s focus on environmentally responsible practice and supporting children to become environmentally responsible. When children are invited to participate, ask questions and share ideas, sustainability becomes something they can explore together.
Want to bring even more music, movement and fun into your sustainability conversations? Explore the Bonkers Rap Educational Pack and help children learn about reducing, reusing and recycling through music and play!
A week can get the conversation started, but the real learning happens in the small choices children make throughout the year!
