Recycling is an important concern to be brought to the attention of all of the younger generation; however, middle-school-aged students are at a prime time in their lives to engage in worthwhile projects that impact the greater society. Peruse our collection of 35+ ideas to get inspired on how to best introduce them to the concept of the three R’s- Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Then, break out your favorites and implore them to get stuck into making our world a better place one step and a time!
1. Recreate Famous Structures
Whether it’s during an exploration of world geography or an art class, your students can participate in recycling. Depending on the space available, invite your learners to create several small-scale versions of world-famous structures. Get started by checking out an idea for the Eiffel Tower and others below.
Learn More: KC Edventures
2. Create a Cityscape
Help your middle schoolers bring your city to life by engaging in an art project that requires that they piece together a small-scale version. They can create their cityscape by using brown paper bags, cardboard, and other recycled materials. As they build, have them create various recognizable city structures or buildings
Learn More: Harbor Creative Arts
3. Paper Plane Race
Your students could easily recycle paper by creating unique paper planes. This hands-on activity is sure to get everyone excited about recycling! Enhance the activity by having your pupils research how to make their plane more aerodynamic; either using the best recycled papers or designs to create the fastest models. Finish the project with a race to test speed, recyclability, and creativity.
Learn More: Pinterest
4. DIY Derby Racing
Recycling doesn’t have to stop at planes. Your students can also consider aerodynamics and other aspects of physics when designing table-top-sized derby cars from assorted recyclable materials. Get the recycling program on the fast track with this idea!
Learn More: Craftulate
5. Make use of Resources
Your students can work together to create a school recycling center that will allow various materials to be collected, reused, or even recreated. Get creative with the recycling bins, prompting your middle schoolers to create new materials by utilizing materials from the resource center. For instance, they can learn to create recycled paper from shredded old paper or crayons from old melted crayons for the ultimate green experience.
Learn More: Kinder Craze
6. Create Fashionistas
Help your kiddos tap into their unique style with this creative fashion project! To begin, collect materials by having your students bring in their own items that they no longer use or collect donations from others in the school and community. Your students can then design costumes or new fashion accessories; exploring new ways to recycle old clothing into something cool!
Learn More: The Artful Parent
7. Add to the Elementary Library
Turn the act of recycling into a creative book-making session by locating a hole punch, paper bags, ribbon, scrap paper, and markers. Challenge your students to create exciting stories for their friends! This could be an exercise in writing and art for the teens as well!
Learn More: Kitchen Table Classroom
8. Create Puzzles
Have your middle or high school students create puzzles and games from recycled materials to donate to local preschools or even early elementary classrooms. They can cut out shapes from different materials and textiles for younger students to put back together to solve their puzzles. This recycling campaign is sure to bring about joyful learning and foster a greater sense of community between peers.
Learn More: Barley and Birch
9. Pencil Holders for Desks
Why not create themed pencil holders for your classroom? It’s a great way to use up materials while also letting your students personalize their desks. Check out these simple, yet adorable Ninja Turtle pencil holders to get those creative ideas flowing.
Learn More: Jeddah Mom
10. Upscale Mother’s Day
Try a recycling-based Mother’s Day craft by letting your learners come up with unique craft ideas. See what they can design with some string and plastic caps. Suncatchers? Necklaces? The world is their oyster and one thing’s certain- their mothers are bound to love whatever they choose to bring to life!
Learn More: Projects With Kids
11. Don’t Forget Dad
Have your students create something for Father’s Day as a great way to end the school year. Try having them paint old cars or collectibles and attach them to recycled glass or plastic jars for green-based organizing. Tie the gift together by inviting your kiddos to fill the jars with their Dad’s favorite sweet treats.
Learn More: Recycled Crafts
12. Bring in the Wildlife
Here’s another hands-on recycling project for your students who enjoy bird-watching. Have them create bird houses or feeders to attract feathered friends that they can then better observe.
Learn More: Natural Beach Living
13. Create Cool Bags
Have any fashionistas in your class? This activity is perfect for them! Your students can learn to create purses, wallets, backpacks, and other useful bags for their school supplies by melting various candy wrappers. You won’t need many new materials to make these recycled accessories new again. Grab some closures, like zippers or buttons, and let the crafting begin!
Learn More: Pinterest
14. Create Bowls or Baskets
Bring art to life for your middle school students by helping them make recycled baskets and bowls. To prepare, have them collect old paper, plastic, wrapping paper, magazines or anything else that they can find that’ll lay flat enough to glue together into fun new shapes. Once complete, your pupils can even sell their new designs in a recycling campaign to fund school field trips or much-needed improvement projects.
Learn More: Instructables
15. Make Board Games
Here, your students can recycle, have fun, and enjoy creating a new game by building their own board game with recycled materials. The final result could then be used as part of revision activities by requiring your learners to integrate concepts from different classes by placing questions in the blocks of their game board.
Learn More: Hands On As We Grow
16. Make Music
Your students can create musical instruments and start a school band with this unique recycling project. Using an empty cereal box, a few large rubber bands, glue, and a long cylinder, they can easily craft a guitar! Challenge them to utilize other recyclables to see how many other instruments can be brought to life.
Learn More: Crafts by Courtney
17. Start a Garden
This one’s for all your eager green thumbs! Recycled materials can be used to start a composting and school gardening project! Help them plant seeds in empty egg cartons and nurture them each day to bring new sprouts to life.
Learn More: Babble Dabble Do
18. Make a Vase for The Flowers
Recyclables can be turned into beautiful, functional vases! Help your pupils join and decorate assorted pots and tins before adding some personal flair to their vase design using paint and paper scraps. Once complete, they can plant their seedlings grown in the aforementioned activity.
Learn More: Pinterest
19. Decorate for the Holidays
Christmas is a great opportunity for your students to begin a recycling campaign. Your students can use simple recycled materials such as leftover tin cans and pipe cleaners to make these cute Christmas tree decorations as well as other kinds of holiday decor that can be used to make the classroom a festive space!
Learn More: Babble Dabble Do
20. Make a Marble Run
Your middle school students will have a blast making marble runs using only recycled materials. They can work in groups to construct the run before putting them to the test hosting races. This can be a fun way to learn about physics, the properties of inertia, technology, engineering, and math while also relying on the use of recycled materials.
Learn More: Super Make It
21. Recycled Book Character Day
Help your middle schoolers get into the holiday spirit with Book Character Day for Halloween or Christmas. To do so, they can craft their own costumes using cardboard boxes! Once each learner has a costume, get the whole class to work together and create a play.
Learn More: Babble Dabble Do
22. Harness the Wind
Here’s an idea to spruce up your school garden! Your students can create beautiful wind chimes and sun catchers using old CDs, non-washable markers, and fishing line. Proudly display the finished products in your classroom or playground.
Learn More: Happy Hooligans
23. Create Fidgets
We can’t think of an age group that isn’t hooked by fidget toys! Help your pupils use recycled items to create a unique spinning toy such as the mandala-type type CDs seen above.
Learn More: Word Rocks
24. Write and Create a “How to”
Your students can exercise their writing skills as they detail the “How to” of all of their recycled projects in a cool journal. They’ll need to create their “themed” object and then write a clear instructional guide teaching someone else how to complete it.
Learn More: The Literacy Loft Shop
25. Cook Out in the Sun
Get your pupils hyped about recycling by using old materials to bring about a tasty snack! Better yet- with this idea, they’ll also discover more about solar energy.
Learn More: Home Science Tools
26. Self-Checking Math Centers
Use old bottle caps to create great self-checking math tools that your kiddos can use to conduct a fun review of previously learned material. This idea isn’t only functional for math, but also for a variety of subjects. It’s essentially a new take on flash cards- just using recycled materials!
Learn More: Flapjack Education
27. STEM Centers
Focus on recycling in your class with STEM centers. This requires the use of a variety of recycled items as well as a ton of your students’ creativity. Have each learner choose a card and piece together the STEM idea listed thereon. Use the cards found here or come up with your own!
Learn More: Science Demo Guy
28. Create a Coaster Park
Your middle schoolers will love tapping into engineering by using paper plates, straws, bottles, and other recyclable materials to design their very own roller coasters. You can have THEM use different materials to create different kinds of coasters with unique names. Perhaps you can invite the younger grades to check out the coaster park and trial the completed designs!
Learn More: Frugal Fun 4 Boys
29. Design a Bird’s Nest
Keep science interesting with a unique recycling project in your classroom. Have your students design and test a bird’s nest. They’ll simply need to use limited recyclable materials to create a nest that’s sturdy enough to support the weight of an egg.
Learn More: Momgineer
30. Make a Selfie
A great activity is to have your students use recycled items to create a self-portrait! Break out the inner artist by bringing cubist-style selfies from concept to life. Let’s see what wondrous designs they make use of!
Learn More: YouTube
31. Construct a Miniature Greenhouse
Encourage your students to embark on a botanical adventure with the added benefit of it being a great recycling project. Guide them in creating their very own miniature greenhouses from recyclable materials such as old plastic cups. They’ll be intertwining botany and recycling; building small thriving ecosystems. What a hands-on way to explore life in a tangible form!
Learn More: Handmade Home
32. Create a Recycled Art Gallery
We love art with a message! Lead your students in crafting pieces of art entirely from recycled materials. Display their works at the school to spark conversations regarding environmental awareness. It’s more than art; it’s a conversation starter about our planet.
Learn More: Art Attack Curtner
33. Craft Miniature Boats for Racing
Challenge your students to engineer small boats using recycled items. This can be a friendly competition where learning about buoyancy and force becomes a delightful game. All aboard for learning and fun!
34. Produce a Stop-Motion Animation
Animation magic can be a part of your classroom! Your students can simply create characters and sets from recycled materials and then bring them to life through stop-motion animation. Lights, camera, action!
Learn More: YouTube
35. Fabricate Eco-Friendly Furniture
Spark creativity by having your students design furniture from wooden pallets or other recycled materials. In doing so, they’ll explore sustainability, and craft something that’s both beautiful and functional.
Learn More: YouTube
36. Build a School Maze
Mazes and learning intertwine with this unique recycling project! Your students can sconstruct a life-sized maze from recycled materials to develop their teamwork, problem-solving, and creativity!
Learn More: YouTube
37. Design a Miniature Golf Course
Tee off for education and fun with this next idea! Let your students build a miniature golf course using a few recycled materials: cereal boxes, pipes, cardboard, and recycled paper. Physics, engineering, and recycling are sure to blend into an engaging school-wide event.
Learn More: Kix Cereal
38. Craft a Water Filtration System
Teach your middle schoolers about the importance of recycling and water filtration with this next project! Help them to simply piece together assorted recyclables and natural elements to craft a working water filtration system.
Learn More: Pinnguaq
39. Construct Recycled Science Kits
Invite your students to create science kits from recycled materials for younger learners. Knowledge, recycling, and community come together. It’s an educational gift that keeps on giving!
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