Like so many other events and celebrations, our grand plans for International Compost Awareness Week 2020 were derailed by COVID 19 and social distancing requirements. We opted to offer a lot of digital resources to help folks start composting, including activities for children and families. This is a compilation of the children’s activities that our partner, Pinellas Community Compost, shared. These aren’t our own lessons, but rather hands-on activities and online videos and games we found from other sources and really liked. Happy composting!
All About Soil
Compost adds organic matter to soil, which in turn feeds the rich diversity of microbes that help plants to grow.
We found Lego Layers of the Soil activity for kids of all ages from Little Bins for Little Hands.
Earthworms are a sign of healthy soil and compost. Check out this short video about worms. It’s for kids, but I learned something new, and I bet you would too!
How to Make Compost
Composting is fascinating for kids! Help them get a better look at the process with this fun and easy hands on activity from Tom’s Of Maine.
Here’s a printable How to Make Compost Wheel for kids to color and use to help remember the steps to composting. Thank you to CleverPatch for this free resource!
Learn more about compost in this silly animation video from Recycle Now. They make microbial life cool!
Compost is actually made by decomposing microbes EATING our organic waste. Here’s a fun video about composting for kids from SciShow Kids.
Learn About Your Trash
If you wonder how you’re doing with your waste, a Household Waste Audit is a great place to start! Thank you to PBS Kids for this activity, which includes forms in English and Spanish. Even if you aren’t composting yet, it’s good to know how much food you are wasting. Is there a way you could reduce the amount of food wasted?
One of our goals is to normalize composting in households. Sorting your waste into organics for composting, recycling, and landfill is easy. Kids can practice sorting in this fun game from National Geographic Kids.
Happy composting, everyone!