Sustainable Superstars ideas for OSHC
44 DIY activities for a sustainable superstars at before and after school care or vacation care, usually run around 22 April or 20 May. Pick and mix, or build a balanced day in one click.
Balloon Bongo Drums
Children turn recycled tins into drums by stretching balloon skins over the top, then play rhythms together.
World Bee Day · Gardening Day · Bug Day +3Bee Hotel Build
Children fill a tin or bottle with bamboo pieces and hollow stems to create a home for native solitary bees.
Recycle Day · Sustainable Superstars · Earth Day +3Bottle Top Mosaic
Children sort collected bottle tops by colour and glue them onto a board to make bright mosaic pictures, turning plastic waste into art.
Gardening Day · Bug Day · Science Week +3Bottle Wormery
Children layer soil and sand in a clear bottle, add worms and watch how they tunnel and mix the layers over a week or two.
Bug Day · Gardening Day · Nature Play Day +3Build a Bug Hotel
Children fill a box frame with sticks, pinecones, bark and leaves to create a home for insects in the garden.
NAIDOC Week · Reconciliation Week · Gardening Day +3Bush Tucker Garden
Children plant native food species with guidance from a local Aboriginal organisation or nursery, learning how to care for them.
Cardboard Box Day · Robot Day · Recycle Day +3Cardboard Box Robots
Children build their own robots from small boxes and decorate them with bottle caps, fabric scraps and other recycled bits.
Puzzle Day · Recycle Day · Craft Day +1Cereal Box Jigsaws
Children cut old cereal boxes into jigsaw puzzles and swap them with friends. Recycling meets puzzling.
Gardening Day · Sustainable Superstars · Recycle Day +3Compost Bin Start-Up
Children sort food scraps into compost and non-compost piles, then start a compost bin and learn what breaks down and why.
Sustainable Superstars · Recycle Day · Clean Up Australia Day +2Daily Waste Audit
Older children weigh and sort the day's rubbish to see what the service throws away and plan ways to reduce it.
Tie Dye Day · Fashion Design Day · Craft Day +1Decorated Calico Tote Bags
Children design and decorate their own calico bags with fabric markers, creating a useful, reusable bag they can take home.
Op Shop Day · Kindness Day · Sustainable Superstars +2Donation Sorting Drive
Children help sort, fold and pack donated items for a local charity or op shop. A meaningful way to give back to the community.
Sewing Day · Life Skills Day · Op Shop Day +2Drawstring Bags
Older children sew a simple fabric drawstring bag with a running stitch, learning a practical skill they can use again.
Environmental Day · Clean Up Australia Day · Earth Day +2Environmental Action Day
Children take part in a litter clean-up, sort waste into the right bins and share a waste-free afternoon tea.
Art Through the Ages · Recycle Day · Loose Parts Day +3Found Object Collage
Children collect and arrange found and recycled items into collages, exploring texture, colour and composition.
Life Skills Day · Gardening Day · Sustainable Superstars +2Garden Jobs
Children help weed, water and mulch garden beds, learning how to care for plants.
Gardening Day · Farm to Table Day · Fruit and Veggie Day +3Gardening Club
Children prepare a garden bed, plant strawberries and sunflowers, and share the care through a watering roster.
Gardening Day · Nature Play Day · Science Week +1Grow a Grass-Hair Buddy
Children draw a face on a small pot, plant grass seed and watch their buddy grow green hair they can trim over the following weeks.
Bug Day · World Bee Day · Sustainable Superstars +3Homemade Beeswax Wraps
Older children help make reusable food wraps by melting beeswax into cotton squares, learning about reducing plastic waste and the role of bees.
Inventors Day · Maker Day · Recycle Day +3Junk Invention Lab
Children turn recyclables into new gadgets and inventions, testing and improving their designs.
Recycle Day · Cardboard Box Day · Maker Day +3Junk Sculpture Challenge
Children use clean recycled boxes, bottles and tubes to design and build robots or sculptures, solving building problems as they go.
Clean Up Australia Day · Recycle Day · Environmental Day +2Litter Sorting Graph
Children sort clean collected rubbish into types and create a graph to show what they found.
Milk Day · Bird Watching Day · Recycle Day +3Milk Carton Bird Feeder
Children turn empty milk cartons into bird feeders, then hang them outdoors and watch for visitors.
Sustainable Superstars · Bird Watching Day · Recycle Day +3Milk Carton Bird Feeders
Children turn clean milk cartons into bird feeders, fill them with seed and hang them outdoors to watch for visitors.
National Tree Day · Gardening Day · Earth Day +3Native Seedling Planting
Children plant native seedlings in the service grounds or a community site, learning how trees support wildlife and the environment.
Op Shop Day · Fashion Day · Fashion Design Day +2Op Shop Fashion Show
Children style outfits from donated or second-hand clothes and walk the runway. A creative look at fashion and reusing clothing.
Recycle Day · Fashion Design Day · Fashion Day +3Paper Bag Fashion
Children cut and decorate paper shopping bags into capes, vests and costumes, then show off their designs in a fashion parade.
Recycle Day · Art Attack Day · Budding Artists +2Paper Bag Painting
Children paint big, bold artworks on opened-out paper shopping bags, which make sturdy, free paper for large-scale painting.
World Oceans Day · Clean Up Australia Day · Recycle Day +3Plastic in the Ocean Demo
Children add plastic items to a tub of water with toy sea creatures, see how plastic tangles and floats, and test ways to clean it up.
Bird Watching Day · Recycle Day · Gardening Day +3Recycled Carton Bird Feeders
Children turn milk cartons into bird feeders, fill them with seed and hang them outside to attract local birds.
Recycle Day · Sustainable Superstars · Science Week +3Recycled Paper Making
Older children turn scrap paper into pulp and press it into new sheets of handmade paper, seeing the recycling process up close.
Recycle Day · Clean Up Australia Day · Sustainable Superstars +3Recycling Sort Relay
Teams race to sort clean rubbish into the right bins, learning which items belong in recycling, compost or landfill.
Loose Parts Day · Maker Day · Recycle Day +3Reverse Garbage Maker Day
Children design anything they like from tables of clean recyclables, tape and tools, turning waste into creations.
Clean Up Australia Day · Recycle Day · Sustainable Superstars +3Rubbish Art Sculpture
Children turn clean collected rubbish into a creative sculpture to display.
Clean Up Australia Day · Environmental Day · Earth Day +3Schoolyard Litter Clean-Up
Teams with gloves and tongs collect and tally rubbish around the grounds, caring for their space.
Gardening Day · Earth Day · National Tree Day +3Seed Bombs
Children mix clay, compost and native seeds into small balls to scatter in garden beds, helping bring bare patches to life.
Mother's Day · Gardening Day · Sustainable Superstars +1Seed Tape Gift
Children glue seeds at spaced intervals along paper tape to make an easy-to-plant garden gift.
Sustainable Superstars · Gardening Day · Recycle Day +2Self-Watering Bottle Planters
Children turn plastic bottles into self-watering planters, sow seeds and watch them grow over the following weeks.
Inventors Day · Big Kids Club · Teamwork Day +1Solve a Real Problem
Older children identify a real problem at the service and design practical solutions to present to educators.
Recycle Day · Sustainable Superstars · Music and Dance Day +1Tin Can Wind Chimes
Older children paint clean tin cans and thread them with beads to make wind chimes that jingle in the breeze.
Farm to Table Day · Gardening Day · Fruit and Veggie Day +2Veggie Patch Planting
Children plant vegetable seeds or seedlings in garden beds or pots and learn how to care for them.
Gardening Day · Sustainable Superstars · Recycle Day +3Worm Farm and Compost
Children set up a worm farm and compost bin and feed them afternoon tea scraps, learning how waste becomes soil.
Bug Day · Gardening Day · Sustainable Superstars +3Worm Farm Study
Children observe worms in a worm farm with magnifiers, learning how worms turn food scraps into rich soil.
Earth Day · Recycle Day · Clean Up Australia Day +2Woven Recycled Place Mats
Children weave strips of junk mail and cereal boxes into sturdy, colourful place mats.