Activity

Upcycling for nature

Reducing, recycling and reusing is really important, and it can be fun, too! With a little creativity you can convert your waste into works of art and give rubbish a new life.

A homemade craft city, cars and buildings, made from recycling.

This Helping Nature activity can be completed as part of Families Wild Challenge​.

Estimated time: 1-2 hours Season: All year Skill level: Not too tricky

Instructions

Step-by-step guide

Step one

  • Think carefully about your waste and its impact on the environment.

Step two

  • Separate your rubbish into the appropriate bins, washing any non-card/paper recycling before throwing it away or putting it aside for the craftwork described below.

Step three

  • See if you can find any natural-looking colours in your recycling.

Step four

  • Use your clean rubbish and the instructions below to make a recycled plant, insect or animal crafts.
A tin can fashioned to resemble a bee by the addition of paper wings and antenna, the colouring of black and yellow stripes around the curved side of the can, and a face drawn onto the bottom surface.

Lolly stick wading birds

Wading birds are often known for their long legs which are really handy for standing in the shallows of a river, pond or estuary.

After you've made your recycled wader, maybe you could make a few foil fish for it to eat.

Step one

  • Print the template here and draw round it onto card.

Step two

  • Cut it out and start decorating it using sweet wrappers and other bits of household rubbish - you could try to copy a real bird like a heron or bittern, or just make up your own.

Step three

  • Add lolly stick or pipe cleaner legs to your wader – make sure they're nice and long for wading.

Step four

  • Add a pair of googly eyes.

Partnering with

The RSPB is a member of BirdLife International.More