The Great British Beach Clean | EYFS & KS1 Activity Ideas

**Note: This page is for educational inspiration and is not officially affiliated with The Great British Beach Clean. The Great British Beach Clean is an annual event organised by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS). For official information, to register a clean-up, or to find events near you, please visit the MCS website (www.mcsuk.org/what-you-can-do/join-a-beach-clean/great-british-beach-clean).

Understanding The Great British Beach Clean in EYFS & KS1

Let's clean up our beaches! 🏖️ The Great British Beach Clean is an annual event organised by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), in 2025 it is being held between 19th and 28th September. It's the UK's biggest beach clean-up and citizen science event, where volunteers not only remove litter but also record what they find. This data helps the MCS understand the sources of pollution and campaign for cleaner seas.

For early years settings, nurseries, preschools, childminders, and Year 1 and Year 2 classrooms, this event provides a crucial and highly practical theme for exploring environmental responsibility, marine conservation, and caring for our planet. It's about teaching children about pollution, understanding how our actions impact wildlife, and empowering them to be active protectors of our coastlines. This event offers fantastic planning ideas and inspiration for engaging activities that truly resonate with young minds, making learning about ecology and sustainability both tangible and impactful.

Why Is Teaching About Beach Cleans & Conservation Important for Young Children?

Integrating lessons about beach cleans, marine conservation, and environmental care into your practice with young children (aged 0-7) helps develop their environmental awareness, responsible habits, and a sense of global citizenship. During their early years, children are forming their understanding of the world and their place within it, including how to protect nature.

• Environmental Stewardship: Learning about litter on beaches helps children understand their impact on natural environments and instils a desire to protect marine life.

• Understanding Ecosystems: Exploring sea creatures and their habitats (like rockpools) builds an early understanding of biodiversity and how pollution harms living things. Our beach - rockpool wildlife fact cards are great for this.

• Practical Skills: Engaging in pretend clean-up activities or sorting "litter" helps children develop practical skills related to waste management.

• Problem-Solving: Discussing solutions to beach pollution encourages creative thinking and active participation.

• Empathy for Animals: Learning about the dangers of plastic to sea animals fosters empathy and compassion for wildlife. Our ‘Sea Lion pack’, ‘Sea Turtle pack’, ‘Vaquita pack’, and ‘Whale Shark pack’ are good starting points.

• Active Citizenship: Participating (even symbolically) in a beach clean demonstrates how individuals can contribute to positive change in their community and for the environment.

Engaging Beach Clean & Conservation Activities for The Great British Beach Clean (0-7 Year Olds)

Make The Great British Beach Clean a truly hands-on and impactful experience with these planning ideas and activities perfect for EYFS and KS1 children. The focus is on discovery, cleaning, and protecting our oceans! Many of these early years and year 1 activities can be supported by the extensive range of printable resources we have available.

Here's some inspiration for sparking marine conservation in your setting: (Please use your own discretion and knowledge of your children to ensure appropriateness of each activity and safety concerning any materials given and activity undertaken.)

• Pretend Beach Clean-Up: Set up a "beach" area (sandpit, blue sheet) and scatter clean, safe "litter" (e.g., plastic bottle lids, paper scraps, fabric pieces). Provide gloves and small buckets for children to collect and sort the "litter," discussing what they find and where it should go.

• Marine Life Exploration: Introduce various sea creatures and discuss their habitats. Use resources like ‘Sea Animal word cards’, ‘Sea Animals word mat’, ‘Sea Animal fact cards’, and ‘Drawing Sea Animals’. Explore specific animals with our ‘Sea Lion pack’, ‘Sea Turtle pack’, ‘Vaquita pack’, and ‘Whale Shark pack’. Dive into body parts with posters and writing sheets for ‘Dolphin’, ‘Octopus’, ‘Penguin’ and ‘Turtle’.

• "What Can You See at the Beach?" & Senses: Discuss the sights, sounds, and textures of a clean beach using ‘Beach - senses prompts/display’ and ‘Beach - 'my beach senses booklet'.

• Art with Natural Materials: Collect natural beach items (shells, pebbles, driftwood – if safe and cleaned) for art. Our ‘Beach - natural loose parts pictures’ and ‘Beach - design a shell multimats’ can inspire creations.

• Litter Awareness Art: Create art using recycled materials, or draw pictures of what a clean beach looks like versus a littered one. Use ‘Sea creatures colouring’ sheets to highlight beautiful marine life.

• Rockpool Investigations: Set up a pretend rockpool with water, pebbles, and toy sea creatures. Use ‘Beach - rockpool wildlife fact cards’ to learn about the creatures that live there. ‘Starfish rockpool playdough mat and beach - how many shells can you fit?’ can be integrated.

• Maths & Literacy with Sea Themes:

  • Maths: Count sea animals or "pieces of litter" with ‘Sea Animal counting multimats’, ‘Sea Animal counting 0-10’, ‘Sea animal number slice puzzles’, and ‘Sea Animal numbers 0-30’. Use ‘Feed the Dolphin playdough counting mats’ and ‘Symmetrical crab sheet’. Engage with ‘Beach - can you share the shells fairly?’‘ and ‘Beach - shape challenge cards (natural loose parts)’.

  • Literacy: Use ‘Sea Animal alphabet’ and ‘Sea Animal snap cards’. Encourage mark making with ‘Beach - mark making cards’.

• Mindfulness & Movement: Engage in calm observation with ‘Beach - mindfulness activity cards’ and ‘Beach - mindfulness scavenger hunt sheets’. Get active with ‘Beach - activity/movement challenge cards’. Our ‘Beach - mindfulness colouring’ is also great.

• Creative Play: Encourage imaginative play with themes like ‘Design/make a 'deep-sea creature'.

• Display & Sharing: Create a vibrant display using ‘At the seaside’ or 'Under the Sea' display banners. Children can share their 'My favourite Sea Animal' sheets.

• Related Topic Pages: For broader context and more ideas, explore our dedicated pages:

  • At the Seaside

  • Beach School

  • Ocean

  • Under the Sea

  • Water

  • Endangered Animals

  • The Environment

These activities offer great inspiration for making The Great British Beach Clean a memorable and impactful experience in your early years and Key Stage One setting, fostering environmental awareness, conservation, and active citizenship.

To explore ideas surrounding additional early years events, please visit our 'Special Dates Calendar' page.

Printable resources to support teaching & learning surrounding: ‘The Great British Beach Clean’

Additional Pages you may like to explore which cover relevant &/or Connected themes

More Early Years Event Pages for September

Explore special dates (including awareness dates, festivals, celebrations & events) relevant to your EYFS & KS1 children

Browse our ‘Special Dates Calendar’ page using the link below. You’ll find calendars for every month of the year to aid your planning!

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Disclaimer:
This page is for educational purposes only and is intended to support early years and primary practitioners with ideas and resources related to 'The Great British Beach Clean'. We are not officially affiliated with or endorsed by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), which organises this event. We do not claim any rights to specific trademarks or official materials associated with this event. For official information, to register a clean-up, or to find events near you, please visit the MCS website at www.mcsuk.org/the-great-british-beach-clean/.