Garbage day causes lots of excitement in homes with small children. Preschoolers and toddlers can often be found with faces pressed to windows or jumping up and down in delight as they watch those big trucks noisily shift from house to house. And, oh happy day, if the driver actually blows the horn!

When parents think about activities for kids at home, most probably don’t think of “Trash Day” as one filled with educational activities for kids. However, it can be, especially if parents think about the environment! Try these three ways to learn about sustainability for kids.

3 ways to turn Garbage Day into learning about the environment for kids

1. Go on a virtual field trip—courtesy of NPR— to see what happens to glass bottles after they leave your at-home recycle bin.

2. Read “How a New Bottle Becomes a Used Bottle” and ask your child questions about what you read together. Make connections between what you read to the video you watched. Identify glass recyclables in your own home.

3. Play with magnets. In recycling centers, metal objects are separated from glass objects using powerful magnets. Gather various child-friendly objects from around your house and use magnets together to sort the objects into two piles.

Recycling activities for kids can be fun for the whole family. Plus, it helps your child to understand how we all impact the world around us.