Recycling activity for kids: clean, empty, loose

Recycling only works when the right things go in the right way. This mission sorts it properly, using your own council’s rules.

A clean empty glass jar, an empty drinks can and a few sheets of folded paper, set out loose.

In Gullbrae: the burn and the shore

The burn running under a stone bridge into the sea at Gullbrae, on a grey day before the rain. A blue wrapper, a paper scrap and an empty cup lie on the pavement by the railings. — The burn needs help. Rain is on the way, and a wrapper, a cup and a paper scrap are lying on the pavement where it could wash them into the water.

Do it together

Younger children (about 5 to 7)

Help your grown-up check the recycling: is it empty?
Watch your grown-up rinse a tin or a jar clean.
Put the things in loose, not in a bag.
Check the bin lid is shut, so the rain stays out and nothing blows away.

Older children (about 8 to 11)

Look up your own council’s recycling list with your grown-up.
Make your home recycling checklist: fill in your own council’s bins together.
Check a week of recycling against it: is everything clean, empty and loose?
Find one thing you weren’t sure about, and look up the answer.

For grown-ups: keep it safe

You rinse tins and jars, which can have sharp edges.
Councils accept different things, so your own council’s list is the one to follow.
West Sussex County Council, for example, asks for recycling loose, not in bags, and for the lid to be closed to keep the rain out. Check what your own council asks.

Source: West Sussex County Council: frequently asked recycling and waste questions. Checked 20 October 2026.

Our home recycling checklist

One printable page: write in your own council’s bins, and what goes in each.

Download the checklist (PDF)

When you’ve done it

We did it: put the burn and the shore right

The same view of the burn and the bridge before the rain, with the pavement clear. — **Put right.** The pavement is clear before the rain arrives, so nothing can wash into the burn and out to sea.

Eddie, Priya, Buddy and Wee Bin waving together.

The crew say thank you. Now stick the burn and the shore on your town poster, and fill in a record sheet if you keep a learning log.

Nothing is saved when you press the button. Your progress lives on your poster.

Read the story

The mystery materialIf you can’t tell what something is made of, check before you sort.Buddy and the colour puzzleWhy bin colours change from one council to the next.

Play Sort with Buddy

Draft, 20 October 2026. The words and pictures are waiting for an educator’s review and a fact check. Gullbrae is made up; your own council’s rules are the ones to follow.