Composting Sorting Game

Our latest Uptown Good Food and Bronx Park East Farmers Market which were held on Saturday, August 2nd and Sunday, August 3rd featured a fun activity led by our summer interns Tiffaney Batista, Brad Lynch, and Zarya Gutierrez. The activity was a fun compost sorting game! Kids who participated were presented with 3 small containers each with a different label. One was composting, the other was trash and another was recycling. Kids were shown a variety of  cards that contained images of different items that could be sorted into the 3 categories. Kids were quizzed on their knowledge of composting, recycling and sorting trash and were asked where they thought the item belonged! Many were already eco-experts and knew what to do and how to correctly categorize each item. All children were guided through the activities and were provided explanations to why each item belonged in its category and many were surprised at how many items could be composted! Children who participated in the game were able to be properly educated on what to compost, recycle and throw away. This knowledge is important and allows children to be able to properly sort items that they are done with into their respective categories. With proper categorization, children are able to know what they need to do in order to better their environment!

Supplies:

• 3 containers/tins/cups/baskets to represent bins that are labeled (Compost, Recycle, Trash)
• Marker, pen or pencil (to write your label if needed)
• 30+ sorting cards, each showing or representing a different item: Example: Compostables: Apple core, banana peel, eggshell, coffee grounds, tea bag, wilted lettuce, paper napkin.  Recyclables: Plastic bottle, soda can, paper flyer, cardboard box, metal lid. Trash: Chip bag, plastic fork, candy wrapper, rubber band, broken toy

Step-by-Step Instructions:

This game is very simple to replicate at home! What you could start by doing is finding 3 tins that can be labeled compost, trash and recycling. Any type of tin or container or cup can be used as long as it can hold the cards and be properly labeled! For our activity we used a print out sheet off the internet featuring a variety of items that could either be composted, recycled or discarded as trash, we printed and then laminated the cards for our activity. You could also draw the items on paper and come up with your own items that can be recycled, composted or trashed and then you could cut them out to use. You could execute the game in any way that you prefer and form teams to make it more competitive or you could just play solo and sort the items one by one, it’s totally up to you!

A huge thank you to all the families who joined us at our @uptowngoodfood and @bxpemarket and the kids who participated in our Kids Club Composting Sorting Game! Kids who engaged in this activity were able to learn simple yet impactful knowledge regarding how to sort items into recycling, composting and trash in order to keep their neighborhoods healthy and clean! And also Farmers Market Week is ongoing! It runs from August 3rd and August 9th, We hope to continue building health knowledge for everyone one market day at a time!