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.

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

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.

Bin bugs

Real bugs around your bin aren't ideal, but these colourful buzzers will liven up the rubbish pile.

Let's make a bottle bug, dragonfly pegs and sweetie insects.

A small bottle that has been upcycled a butterfly flying against a solid blue background. — Upcycled Butterfly

Bottle bug

Step one
Decorate your drinks bottle using paints or by wrapping it in other colourful recycling material and sticking it down.
Step two
Cut some wings out of card and stick them to your bottle.
Step three
You can add legs and antennae using pipe cleaners.
Step four
Don't forget to give your bug a face and a name!
Step five
Add googly eyes.

Dragonfly pegs

Step one
Decorate your drinks bottle using paints or by wrapping it in other colourful recycling material and sticking it down.
Step two
Cut some wings out of card and stick them to your bottle.
Step three
You can add legs and antennae using pipe cleaners.
Step four
Don't forget to give your bug a face and a name!
Step five
Add googly eyes.

Sweetie insects

Step one
Twist a sweet wrapper or piece of foil.
Step two
Bend and secure a pipe cleaner around the wrapper to create a simple wing-body insect.
Step three
Attach as many sweetie insects as you like to ribbons to create an attractive swarm.

Upcycled bottles made into a Hedgehog and a toadstool sat upon grass. — Upcycled Hedgehog and toadstool