Reduce, reuse and recycle with the Rainbows recycling badge

As sponsors of the Rainbows recycling badge, Daisy Corporate Services share some fun activities to help Rainbows complete their badge. From recycling food, to reusing things you’d normally throw away, these activities can be enjoyed by any age group.

Create a bird feeder

What you need

• An empty cardboard tube from kitchen rolls, wrapping paper or toilet rolls.
• Peanut butter (don’t forget to check for allergies).
• Bird seed.
• String.

What to do

1. Clean off any extra bits of paper from your cardboard tube.
2. Cover the tube with a thin layer of peanut butter.
3. Pour some bird seed onto a plate.
4. Gently roll the tube over the plate. The bird seed will stick to it!
5. Thread a piece of string through the roll and tie it into a loop.
6. Head outside and hang your bird feeder from a tree.
7. Watch your feathered friends come to enjoy their yummy snacks! 

Use egg cartons as eco-friendly plant pots

What you need

• An empty egg carton.
• Soil.
• Seeds.

What to do

1. Break the lid off your egg carton.
2. Fill each egg cup with soil.
3. Add flower or herb seeds and cover them with a thin layer of soil.
4. Sprinkle with a little water.
5. Place near a window with sunlight.
6. Don’t let the soil dry out! Add a little water every 2 days.
7. Once they grow to about 5cm, dig a hole outside (big enough for the whole egg box) and plant it. The box will decompose into the ground, allowing your plants to spread out their roots as they grow!

Regrow berries

What you need

• Fruit berries.
• Kitchen paper.
• Compost.

What to do

1. If you have some berries that have been squashed in the box, or are starting to turn bad, take the seeds and pop them into a piece of kitchen paper.
2. Place the kitchen paper with the seeds inside into some compost.
3. Water occasionally and watch them grow more fruit over time.
4. You can use some of the seeds from the fruit you grow to plant even more!

Create a jar lantern or flower vase

What you need

• An empty jar.
• Tissue paper from a gift that you've received.
• An LED tea light or flowers.

What to do

1. Clean out your empty jar using water and a tea towel.
2. Decorate your jar with coloured tissue paper and zero plastic sticky tape.
3. Add a battery-operated tea light for a lantern OR add water and flowers to use it as a vase.

Eggshell mini-planters

What you need

• Eggshells
• Soil
• Seeds

What to do

1. Fill each of your empty eggshells with a little soil.
2. Plant herb seeds, like basil or parsley.
3. Once the seedlings are big enough to move into a bigger pot, squash the eggshell and plant it directly into the soil outside. It will add calcium to your garden soil, helping plants grow!

Grow cress in an old potato

What you need

• A potato.
• Cress seeds (or other herbs).
• Soil.

What to do

1. Ask an adult to cut the top off a large potato and hollow out a small cavity.
2. Fill it with soil and plant small seeds. Cress, basil or any other herbs are perfect!
3. The potato will provide nutrients as it decomposes, helping your plant grow healthy.
4. Place the potato into a plant pot so it doesn’t roll around, or plant the whole thing in the soil outside.
5. Watch your plants grow right out of the potato!

Turn paper plates into art

What you need

• Paper plate
• Paint
• Leaves
• Zero plastic sticky tape

What to do

1. Clean off your used paper plate.
2. Turn it over and decorate it using paints, leaves, or whatever you have to hand!

Make your own shaker instrument

What you need

• An empty used container, like a plastic bottle or yogurt pot.
• Dry rice, pasta, dried beans or lentils.
• Decorations: stickers, markers, ribbons, sweet wrappers – anything you have!
• Tape and glue.
• Zero plastic sticky tape.

What to do

1. Clean the container.
2. Add a small amount of dry rice, pasta, dried beans, or lentils (or a large amount for a different sound).
3. Put the lid on securely.
4. Put tape around the lid to make it extra secure.
5. Decorate it with stickers and markers and stick on ribbons. 
6. Give it a shake and make some music!

Make a cereal box theatre

What you need

• Large cereal box.
• Safety scissors.
• Zero plastic sticky tape.
• Paint, markers, crayons.
• Craft sticks (for puppets).
• Scrap fabric and wool (for the puppets’ costumes and the stage curtains).

What to do

1. Open the top of the box and squash it so you have a flat surface.
2. Turn it on its side.
3. Cut out a large rectangle in the middle of one side of the box.
4. Decorate the box on the inside and outside with paint, markers or crayons.
5. Add curtains by sticking some scrap fabric to the sides of the stage.
6. Reassemble the box and cut out the top so the puppets can enter the stage!
7. Make the puppets using the craft sticks. Draw on a face and stick on fabric for clothes. Stick on wool for hair.
8. Put your cereal box theatre on a table. Arrange seats for your audience.
9. Make up a story, or follow a story book, and put your puppets on the stage from the top opening of the box. Use your puppets to act out the play, or just turn on music and make them dance.

Turn leftover fruit into a yummy smoothie

What you need

• Fruit.
• A blender (and an adult to help).
• Milk or milk alternative, or ice cream, or yogurt.
• Honey.

What to do

1. Take your leftover fruits, give them a rinse under some water and add them into a blender jug.
2. Add either a cup of milk, or milk alternative, or a dollop of ice cream, or yogurt.
3. Add a teaspoon of honey.
4. Ask an adult to operate the blender and mix it all together.
5. Enjoy your yummy drink!