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Composting for Kids How to Compost
Composting for kids - How to compost
Over the years we have done composting with kids. We have been encouraging the kids to be good stewards of the earth.
Composting is a great way to teach your kids something about recycling.
They will be able to watch the recycling of kitchen waste into fertiliser that is full of nutrients for your plants.
It is fun and easy and an interesting process to watch and be a part of.
Don't forget about worm composting, this can be done indoors on a small scale which may be useful if you live in a flat.
What starts off seeming complicated soon becomes a way of life and the kids are sometimes better at composting than
us parents.
Composting for kids lends itself to some really interesting homeschool learning
From seeing how kitchen scraps and garden waste break down.
To seeing how the resulting compost then helps the garden to grow well.
Composting Tips
Here you will find a collection of composting for kids activities
which you will find really useful
Keep a bucket in the kitchen that the kids can add kitchen scraps to.
As the kids grow older they can take over resposibility for this.
You could also keep a laminated list of suitable scraps for composting for kids
This will give the kids a visual reminder.
Having a bin in the kitchen means you are more likely to compost kichen waste as you go about you everyday life.
You should only need to empty this bin (you can buy it from amazon.com) once a week for a family of four.
How to do composting for kids
You will need: compost bin or space to make a compost pile.
- A good compost needs water, air, nitrogen and carbon to make it work well.
- The kids can collect stuff to make this up.
- Nitrogen comes from kitchen scraps and othe green stuffs from garden.
- Carbon comes from brown stuff such as paper, cardboard and leaves pine needles and sawdust, hay and straw.
- It help to make a compost heap in layers.
- A layer of brown a layer of green, layer of brown, layer of green.
- A compost pile is kept aireated by crumpled up paper and cardboard and by mixing the pile.
- The compost pile should never be dry so add water to keep it moist.
- Egg shells can be added cruhed, these provide minerals to the compost.
- Every now and then a layer of soil can be added to mixture.
- Your bin or pile should be in a warm spot.
- your compost should be ready in around 9 months.
You Can Compost
Vegetable peelings, Egg shells,
Cardboard, Coffee grounds,
Shredded paper, Tea bags
Fruit waste, Hair,
Matchsticks, Corks,
Grass cuttings, Hay,
Sawdust, Small twigs
Manure, Leaves
Used pet bedding (personal choice)
Don't Compost
Milk products
Cooked Food (attracts rats)
Fish
Meat
Bones
Oil
Thick sticks
Grease
Glass, metal, plastic
Polythene
How to Compost with Worms
You will need: Either a shallow wooden bin, a wooden drawer or a plastic bin, shredded cardboard or newspaper,
Redworms, kitchen scraps.
Take the container and put drainage holes in the bottom.
The container will need to be raised so fluid can drain from underneath.
Place a plastic tray or sheet underneath container.
A small worm bin can be kept inside perhaps under the kitchen sink.
Pour in gravel to cover drainage holes
Put in bedding for worms. Fill 3/4 full of bedding (shredded cardboard or newspaper) add a spade or two of soil.
Add water to make contents moist.
Next add 2 pounds of worms to each pound kitchen waste.
Make a hole in bedding to add kitchen waste,(start slowly adding waste slowly) then cover this with bedding.
Keep bedding moist and keep a loose lid on top to keep in moisture.
You can add: chopped small vegetable peelings, fruit, potoatoes, crushed egg shells, tea leaves, cereals, bread horse manure.
Tip: When doing composting for kids encourage the kids to do as much as possible.
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Gardening tips
Composting with Worms
Worms for composting
These are not common garden worms but worms you can purchase from internet or garden catalogues.
You may find your local garden center may have them or a bait shop.
You can use, Tiger worms, or Red worms.
Worms like to be kept warm.
They can be kept in a garage, shed or inside the house.
Composting for kids
worm compost in a bottle
You will need: Jar such as mayonaise jar, pebbles or gravel, soil, cardboard or newspaper, worms, kitchen scraps, black paper.
Put pebbles or gravel into jar.
Add soil then some cardboard or paper then more soil to fill about 1/2 the jar.
Add worms
Put in food for worms (apple, banana, vagetable scraps, tea bags, egg shells)
Put thin layer of soil on top.
Moisten contents.
Cover the jar with black paper(worms like the dark).
Every couple of days get the kids to look to see what worms are doing, and the tunnels they are making.
Every few days add more scraps and cover with soil.
Watch the worms making compost.
Make a wormery
You will need: Garden worms, a two litre drinks bottle, damp soil, gravel or sand, leaves, black paper
Cut top off the bottle
Fill bottle with layers of damp earth and gravel or sand.
The gravel layers can be thin.
Place leaves on top.
Add worms
Cover bottle with black paper.
Watch the worms tunneling.
After a couple of weeks return worms to garden.
SCIENCE
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