Free Recycling Activities for KS1 and KS2

Michelle Parkes · 29 May 2026

Every year, the average person in the UK throws away around 400kg of waste. That's the weight of a giant panda! Teaching children about recycling and reducing waste is one of the most impactful things you can do in the classroom, and it doesn't have to cost a penny. Here are our favourite free recycling activities for KS1 and KS2, plus links to Earth Cubs videos, songs, and podcasts to bring it all to life.

Why teach recycling in primary school?

Recycling links directly to the UN Global Goals and sits within the KS1/KS2 science curriculum (materials and their properties). But beyond the curriculum, it gives children a genuine, tangible way to make a positive difference. When a child understands that a plastic bottle doesn't disappear (it takes 450 years to break down in a landfill), they become lifelong recyclers.

Activity 1: The Recycling Sort 🧹

Age: EYFS to KS1. Collect a range of clean materials from home (cardboard tubes, plastic bottles, tin cans, paper, glass jars). Sort them into recycling categories. Discuss what happens to each material when it's recycled. What does it become? Then watch our Return of the Bottle video to see how bottle deposit return schemes turn recycling into real community action.

Activity 2: The Rubbish Rap 🎤

Age: KS1 and KS2. Watch our Rubbish Rap video with Geezer Rat and MC Grammar, then challenge children to write their own rap about recycling. What rhymes with "rubbish"? What rhymes with "recycle"? Perform them to the class. This activity builds literacy skills while reinforcing sustainability messages in the most memorable way possible.

Activity 3: The Upcycling Challenge 🦊

Age: KS1 and KS2. Ask children to bring in one piece of "rubbish" from home (clean and safe). Their challenge: turn it into something useful, beautiful, or funny. A toilet roll becomes a rocket. A tin can becomes a pen pot. An egg box becomes a bug hotel. Inspired by Frankie Fox's love of upcycling, this challenge builds creativity, design thinking, and sustainability awareness all at once. Check out our waste and recycling content for more inspiration.

Activity 4: The Tennis Ball Trail 🎾

Age: KS1 and KS2. Watch our Tennis Balls! video to see the incredible journey of a recycled tennis ball, from court to dog toy to underlay. Then ask children to investigate one everyday object: where does it go when it's thrown away? Can they find out if it can be recycled or reused? Present findings to the class. Great for developing research and communication skills alongside sustainability education.

Activity 5: Set Up a Class Recycling Station ♻️

Age: All ages. This is a whole-school action that children can lead. Help pupils design and create a classroom recycling station with labelled boxes for paper, plastic, and general waste. Children become the recycling monitors, checking their peers are using it correctly. Link this to your Eco Committee and you've got a real sustainability programme running. Finish with the Earth Cubs Rubbish Rap podcast episode for a group listen.