**Note: This page is for educational inspiration and is not officially affiliated with Zero Waste Week. Zero Waste Week is an annual campaign run by the non-profit organisation Zero Waste Week. For official information and resources, please visit the Zero Waste Week website (www.zerowasteweek.co.uk).
Understanding Zero Waste Week in EYFS & KS1
Reduce, reuse, recycle! Zero Waste Week is an annual, international campaign that takes place during the first full week of September. It encourages individuals, businesses, and communities to reduce the amount of waste they send to landfill. The campaign highlights simple ways we can all minimize our environmental impact by focusing on the "5 Rs": Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Rot (compost), and Recycle.
For early years settings, nurseries, preschools, childminders, and Year 1 and Year 2 classrooms, Zero Waste Week provides a crucial and highly practical theme for exploring environmental responsibility, sustainability, and caring for our planet. It's about teaching children about waste, understanding where things go, and empowering them to make positive choices for the environment. This week offers fantastic planning ideas and inspiration for engaging activities that truly resonate with young minds, making learning about ecology and conservation both tangible and impactful.
Why Is Teaching About Zero Waste & Recycling Important for Young Children?
Integrating lessons about zero waste, recycling, and sustainability into your practice with young children (aged 0-7) is incredibly important for fostering 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.
Environmental Stewardship: Teaching about waste helps children understand their impact on the planet and instils a desire to protect natural resources.
Practical Skills: Learning to sort recycling or reuse materials provides tangible skills they can apply at home and in school.
Problem-Solving: Discussing how to reduce waste encourages creative thinking and problem-solving.
Understanding Materials: Exploring different materials (plastic, paper, metal) and where they come from builds early scientific understanding. Our 'Find and Draw' resources, are great for this.
Future Impact: Instilling these habits early contributes to a generation that is more conscious of their consumption and its long-term effects.
Engaging Zero Waste & Recycling Activities for Zero Waste Week (0-7 Year Olds)
Making Zero Waste Week a truly impactful and hands-on experience is easy with these planning ideas and activities perfect for EYFS and KS1 children. The focus is on doing, learning, and making a difference! 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 bringing the principles of zero waste into 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.)
Recycling Sorting Challenge: Set up recycling bins (or labelled boxes) for different materials (paper, plastic, metal, cardboard). Provide various clean "waste" items and have children sort them. Use our 'Sort Recycling Cards Activity/Game' for a structured approach and 'Cut, Sort and Stick Recycling Activity' for fine motor practice.
Recycling Centre Role-Play: Create a 'Recycling Centre Dramatic Role-Play Pack' where children can pretend to collect, sort, and process recyclable materials. This helps them understand the journey of waste.
Junk Modelling Challenge: Provide a variety of clean "junk" materials (cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, paper rolls) and encourage children to design and build something new. Use our 'Junk Modelling Challenge - Design a...Sheets' to prompt their creativity (e.g., "Design a Robot," "Design a Castle").
"Don't Use Plastic Bags!" Campaign: Discuss the impact of single-use plastic bags. Use our 'Don't Use Plastic Bags! Poster' and 'Don't Use Plastic Bags! Colouring Poster'. Children can design their own reusable "Bag for Life" with our 'Design a Bag for Life' resource.
Recycling Symbol Exploration: Introduce the universal recycling symbol. Use our 'Recycling Symbol - Fine Motor Control Sheets', 'Recycling Symbol - Multimats' for tracing and recognition activities.
Material Discovery: Explore different materials around the setting and discuss what they are made of and if they can be recycled. Use our 'Recyclable Materials - Word Cards' and 'Find and Draw - Fabric', 'Find and Draw - Metal', 'Find and Draw - Paper/Card', 'Find and Draw - Plastic', and 'Find and Draw - Wood' to guide this exploration.
"Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" Song or Rhyme: Teach a simple song or rhyme about the 3 Rs to help children remember the core concepts.
Composting Corner (If Applicable): If your setting has a garden or outdoor space, start a small composting bin for fruit and vegetable scraps. This teaches about "rot" as part of the zero-waste cycle.
Litter Pick-Up (Supervised): Conduct a small, supervised litter pick-up around the setting's outdoor area (with gloves and proper tools) to highlight the importance of not littering.
Story Time: Environmental Books: Read age-appropriate books about recycling, reducing waste, or caring for the Earth.
These activities offer great inspiration for making Zero Waste Week a memorable and impactful experience in your early years and Key Stage One setting, fostering a lifelong commitment to environmental responsibility and sustainability.
To explore ideas surrounding additional early years events, please visit our 'Special Dates Calendar' page.
Printable resources to support teaching & learning surrounding: ‘Zero Waste Week’
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!
SEARCH ‘LITTLE OWLS Resources’ USING THE FOLLOWING MENU BUTTONS…
Disclaimer:
This page is for educational purposes only and is intended to support early years and primary practitioners with ideas and resources related to 'Zero Waste Week'. We are not officially affiliated with or endorsed by the Zero Waste Week non-profit organisation. We do not claim any rights to specific trademarks or official materials associated with this campaign. For official information and resources, please visit the Zero Waste Week website at www.zerowasteweek.co.uk.
Time to get cosy with a book! 📚📖 National Read a Book Day is an unofficial observance, primarily celebrated in the United States, annually on September 6th. Its simple yet powerful…