Preschoolers Build 'Recycle Town,' Learning Valuable Lessons in Creative Sustainability

Preschoolers didn’t just play house; they built it from scratch, swapping out bricks and mortar for glue and cardboard. Their skyscrapers soared with plastic windows and newspaper roofs. For Earth Day, the preschool class created a replica of a town using only recycled materials – naming their sustainable city “Recycle Town.”

Imagine a bustling town, but the size of a flattened cardboard box crafted entirely from recycled materials. According to teacher Laura Bashir, the project showed preschoolers how single-use products, such as papers, pens and cardboard, can be reused. Drawing from previous teaching experiences and workshops at Children Today, the preschool teachers worked collaboratively to help the children bring the town to life.

PLANNING & COLLABORATION

​Building Recycle Town wasn’t a one-person job. It took a village—or, more accurately, a community of families who pitched in their recyclables. Preschool teacher Julia Ochoa sent a note out to families, asking them to bring in their recycled products. Families responded by bringing in bags of plastic, cardboard, paper and more, which allowed preschoolers to see how their once-trash turned into town-building materials.

​“I contributed a Coke bottle, and they would say, ‘Look at how I’m using your Coke bottle.’ You could see how they are paying attention to everything around them,” Ochoa said. “They could see that we took something they had used before, and now we’re using it again for something else.” 

THE CONSTRUCTION PROCESS

The preschoolers dedicated their first day of building to construction. Preschoolers wielded glue sticks and cardboard like city-planning architects. They planned, they brainstormed and they problem-solved. According to Ochoa, the preschoolers learned how to ask each other for help and figured out how to resolve issues on their own.

​“Students would ask each other, ‘Hey, can you hold this for me for stability,’ or ‘Can you move this over a little bit so that we can make space for mine,’” Ochoa stated. “They also learned a little bit about independence, kind of figuring out, 'How can I fix this?'”

​After a hard day’s work, it was time to add some color. Day two was all about painting the town. With splashes of pink, yellow, green and blue paint, the preschoolers experienced the transformative process of creating art out of their recycled trash.

But Recycle Town wasn’t just about building structures; it was about recreating their world. From soda box aquariums to bottle bridges, the preschool class brought their environment to life in miniature form. They didn’t just build; they reimagined.
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​​“They used materials to build pieces of the town that they’ve seen before,” Ochoa said. “One of the kids used soda boxes and asked us to cut a window for a picture of a shark to make an aquarium. They asked us to make triangle pieces to build houses. They used bottles and other materials to make bridges.” 

THE IMPACT OF RECYCLE TOWN

And the lessons didn’t stop there. Through Recycle Town, these preschoolers learned that recycling isn’t just about cans and bottles—it’s about giving old items new life. Bashir explained that this project is just the beginning.

​“I think this project will open their minds to be able to impact the environment at home and they can take this project and share it with others,” Bashir said. “We talked about recyclables and recycling plastics, but we also talked about how to recycle clothing and donations. Knowing that there’s lots of ways to recycle and reuse old materials, they can take that into the future and be able to recycle in a lot of ways.”

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