To teach students about all the materials you can recycle in your area, set up a learning activity which stimulates their sense of touch while limiting their sight. Set up several different containers, depending upon how many materials you can recycle in your area. Fill one container with glass marbles to represent glass. Fill the next container with pieces of aluminum foil, crumpled into small balls. Let that container represent aluminum cans. Fill a third container with paper confetti or shredded office paper. Depending upon other materials you can recycle in your area, fill a container with Styrofoam trays or plastic shopping bags, snipped into small pieces. Let the students dip their hands in each container, blindfolded, and identify the recyclable materials in your area.
Engage all your students' senses by building a classroom herb garden. Recycle aluminum cans as planters. Be sure to bore holes in the bottoms of the cans so that water can drain. When you fill the planters with potting soil, teach the students about compost, a natural form of recycling. Plant a range of attractive and aromatic herbs, such as tasty spearmint or feathery dill. Once the edible leaves come in, let students try to identify among the herbs by smell, appearance and taste.
Divide your class into four or five small groups and present each group with a diverse array of recycled material. Visit your local recycling center or stock up on materials at home, hanging on to dispensable items instead of throwing them out or putting them in the recycling bin. Tell each group they must use the provided materials to design and build a musical instrument. To get them started, encourage students to think about basic instruments, such as drums, panpipes and rattles. Once each group has designed an instrument, have them select a representative to play the instrument in your class band.
Over a period of several weeks or months, have students save plastic lids, food containers, cardboard and other recyclable objects from home, and bring them in to class. Once you have amassed a large collection of recyclables, inform the class they will be making a rainbow display of all their goods. Set out a large piece of paper on the floor, big enough to cover the class bulletin board. Have students attach their recyclables to the paper according to color, until they have formed a rainbow. If necessary, supplement their stockade of recyclables with additional items in any missing colors.