Little litter pickers

Bins retailer SkipsandBins.com has come up with some great ideas for involving your little ones in litter picking and keeping the neighbourhood tidy.

Make litter picking sociable

One of the easiest ways to make litter picking into a fun activity for your kids is to turn it into a social outing. Look for a litter picking group in your area and join them at the weekend or during the week after school. Having other people around will turn picking up litter into a social pastime instead of a chore. Many schools have litter picking excursions too, so you can encourage your child to join one of these. You could even organise a project with your child’s school and other parents and children to clean up the school buildings and grounds.

Choose a scenic route

Taking walks in nature is a great family activity — as well as being fun, it keeps children active and teaches them about the importance of the natural world. So, organise your nature walks to take in some litter picking along the way. This might consist of cleaning up the local park, or you might litter pick in a residential area and end up at a neighbourhood playground.

Create a scavenger hunt

Making your litter pick into a scavenger hunt can really add to the fun. Make a list of things that you might find on your walk, such as plastic bottles, cardboard, drinks cans ­ and run a competition to see who can find the most. You could also make a nature scavenger hunt for your children to complete as they go along their walk, to encourage them to pay attention to the natural world that they are clearing up. Try printing out a list of items to find and keep a running total of who is doing the best — this gives children more incentive to go litter picking on a regular basis.

Teach your kids about recycling

As well as picking up litter, it's important that children understand the importance of keeping areas litter-free, and what materials can be recycled. Teach them about what recycling is, and the different things that can be made out of plastics and cardboard if they are recycled. Get them involved in recycling at home, making them responsible for paper, plastic, or bottles. Teach them about the impact of waste on the environment, and how we can change it by cleaning up our local communities.

Introduce the idea of waste disposal

Explain the different types of waste bins, and how litter and recycling are sorted and split up. You could decorate bins in your area to make them more eye-catching or start your own community litter picking group for local children and parents. With creativity, litter picking can become a social and enjoyable pastime that lets your children experience a sense of achievement when they keep their community spick and span.

Visit www.skipsandbins.com/ and www.keepbritaintidy.org/