We’ve got lots of new and fun activities parents can play with their kids. As well as learning new skills, children will also learn about the impacts of plastic pollution which has detrimental effects on wildlife, the environment and human health. By getting creative, we can repurpose used plastics, rather than throwing them away.
Activity 1: Plastic Painting
If you and your children have used plastic bottles or takeaway containers, do not throw them away. Instead, children can turn them into pieces of art! You can use texters, paint or even fabric. It doesn’t matter what type of materials your children use, as long as they have fun and can show their creativity on a bottle.
Activity 2: Bowling
Have you ever played bowling with plastic water bottles? To make it even more memorable, children can paint their bottles. All you have to do is line them up, as you would in a regular bowling game, and throw a ball made up of other plastic waste scrunched together – candy wrappers, glad wrap etc. – at them and see how many bottles you can knock down. Also, you can give your children prizes if they knock all bottles down and use the bottle time after time again.
Activity 3: Grow a plant
With this one, you can use any of the takeaway containers or bottles that your children painted in the first activity. Firstly, cut the tops off the bottles and put sand or soil in the bottom part of the bottles or any container. You then put seed - anything your children want to grow - inside the soil and give them a bit of water to help them grow. Put them in your backyard or on a windowsill, anywhere they can get enough sunlight. Your children can water them every morning to get their day going!
Activity 4: Dress up bottles or containers
Playing dress-ups is a no brainer for children. But playing dress-ups with used plastic waste might make them curious about how to create something memorable, and what they can do with their creations. Children can use the bottle as the body and make a dress or pants using other plastic waste such as wrappers. Think outside of the box with materials, so children can explore different colours and be creative with their bottles. While playing dress-ups, remember to encourage your children to use less single-use plastic and remind them that most water bottles are only used for a short amount of time, but survive thousands of years in our oceans.
Activity 5: Make a pinwheel out of plastic waste
Repurpose old bottles and decorate your garden or your bike with your very own pinwheel. This one is for the adults to make, with kids helping in the decoration of bottles. Drill a hole in the lid of the bottle and put a wire through it – you can even use a coat hanger for this. Using a box cutter, cut the sides to create wings and bend them to capture the wind. Voila, Your very own pinwheel!
There are many ways to teach your children about plastic waste and how to reduce it. These activities are to encourage us all to have the conversation about the impacts of plastic on our oceans, as these bottles remain in the environment for thousands of years. Please remember to refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle plastic bottles.
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