Let’s Get Composting!
Autumn brings a variety of new, nature-based activity opportunities for children to enjoy outdoors. Along with an autumn scavenger hunt, there is another activity that is perfect for the season given the abundance of fallen leaves — composting. Composting is a simple activity that not only teaches children new skills and knowledge, but also benefits the natural world. Showing children and under-fives how easy it is to make compost will educate them about the circle of life, teach them the value of recycling, give a home to creatures like minibeasts, and give households a free resource that will nourish plants come springtime. It’s a win-win for children, families, and nature! With that in mind, welcome to today’s introductory guide to composting for kids — let’s get composting! And rest assured that, because this is for children and under-fives, we’ll keep things simple.
Activity Overview
Through this activity, children will learn how to make a compost heap, the simple measures needed to maintain it, the types of things that can be composted, and what the compost can be used for once ready. They’ll discover that things usually discarded can be repurposed, recycled, and given a second life that will benefit nature and the household.
What Will Children Need
Children will essentially need material to compost and somewhere to compost it. Also, depending on the scale of the compost heap, a spade or gardening trowel will be useful, along with access to water. During the compost preparation, gloves can be worn for protection if preferred, and/or supervising adults will need to ensure that children wash hands with soap and water after working on the task.
What Can Children Compost?
Children and their families can compost an array of things that would otherwise have gone to waste. Key ingredients can include:
Fresh grass cuttings;- Fallen/dead leaves and small twigs foraged from the garden or local open space;
- Crushed eggshells;
- Vegetable scraps and fruit peelings;
- Loose coffee grounds and loose tea leaves (empty the contents of any tea bags as the bags themselves often contain microplastics, which do not break down);
- It’s also possible to incorporate small pieces of unlaminated cardboard and shredded paper scattered into the overall organic mix, although see the next section for details to avoid.
Avoid…Avoid including scrap meat, fish, dairy products including cheese, oily foods, pet food, laminated or glossy paper/cardboard, string, tags containing metal rivets, anything containing plastic, and pet litter or waste. After all, you don’t want to attract pests and bad smells, and you only want to use ingredients that are biodegradable. |
How Children Can Get Started
The first task is to choose somewhere for your child’s compost heap. An unused corner of the garden would be perfect for a simple heap, although it’s also possible to make a child’s compost heap in a container like a large pot, a timber packing crate, or even a robust cardboard box if garden space and resources are limited. A parent may need to guide children in this regard.
At the other end of the scale, it’s also possible, of course, to build a larger compost area that has sturdier sides. With the help of an adult, such a construction can be made out of repurposed pallet wood, logs, wire mesh, a crate, or timber sleepers. However, as this particular composting task is a children’s activity, we’ll assume you’ll keep the scale fairly modest and the approach fairly simple. Even at a small scale, high-quality compost is possible with the right approach and ingredients.
What to Do
Whatever the location and style of the compost heap, the approach for making compost is the same.
Ideally, the compost heap should contain a layer of garden earth at the base to get things started.- Children should regularly collect the ‘ingredients’ for the compost heap that we outlined earlier. For example, crushed eggshells, vegetable scraps, fruit peelings, banana skins, foraged autumn leaves, grass cuttings, twigs, and so on. Including a wide mix is important. Once collected, these can be scattered in a layer onto the compost heap, which will build up over time.
- The child should keep it moist by regularly sprinkling water on the pile. This can be done with either a watering can or a wet sponge that can be wrung out over the compost pile.
- The pile should be stirred and mixed once a week, using a spade, gardening trowel, or stick, depending on the size and depth of the heap.
- Take care to avoid hurting any minibeasts that will inevitably move in once the compost heap is established.
First Steps to a Greener Life
One of the first lessons that children will learn during their composting journey is that what might have been considered rubbish can, in fact, be converted into a valuable resource. All those scraps hold nutrients and minerals that need not be wasted. Instead, they can be recycled and put to new use rather than being discarded and going into landfill.
Recycling is a concept that is becoming more and more important over the years, and composting is an easy and worthwhile way to introduce green values to little ones. Indeed, it may be the first step that sets them on a path towards a more ecologically friendly lifestyle.
What to Expect
As the compost heap builds up and is mixed over time, the ingredients will gradually biodegrade. Whilst doing so, the pile may appear to shrink and will also darken in colour. Biodegrading is a natural process that is helped by the bacteria, worms, and little bugs that inhabit the mixture.
Indeed, as the composting process unfolds, children will discover some of the little minibeasts that have made the compost heap their home. These are fascinating little creatures that help the compost heap break down. From worms and centipedes to woodlice and beetles, they come in a wide variety of different forms. Another important lesson for children to learn is that the creatures should be treated delicately, with empathy, so they are not unduly disturbed or harmed. Learn more about minibeasts and download a free minibeasts reference poster for your child here.
Eventually, the composting process will result in a rich, crumbly, earth-like compost that’s dark brown in colour. This is packed full of natural goodness that plants will love.
What to Do With the Compost
The resulting compost can be used as the soil for potted plants, for growing vegetables and fruits, or mixed around those already in the garden to give them a boost. Compost is rich in nutrients that will greatly enhance the health of growing plants and shrubs, to help them grow and reach their full potential. Plants and flowers will be stronger and will thrive. Fruit and vegetables grown at home will be more bountiful too. All in all, growing plants will become healthier.
Lessons From This Activity
This activity is not only fun, but will also feed children’s minds. It will teach children new skills, the value of preparation, the importance of patience, and the need to look after nature’s flora and fauna. It teaches children about the natural world, the circle of life, the seasons, how to care for other living things, and the importance of green values. Above all, the exercise demonstrates that if you look after nature, it will look after you. These are all wonderful concepts for children to understand, so it’s crucial to explain them as part of children’s learning journeys during the activity.
So, we encourage families to gather autumn leaves and save those kitchen scraps — they’re a valuable commodity and setting children on their composting path will open children’s eyes to new concepts while combining outdoor exploration, science, recycling, horticulture, and so much more.
Happy Composting, from Little Acorns Nursery
Weekday Childcare Services in Hindley Green, Near Wigan
At Little Acorns Nursery in Hindley Green, we know how important spending time outdoors, close to nature, is for children. Nature benefits children in so many ways, including physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually — and even academically (click the bold link to learn more). It’s one of the many reasons we recommend outdoor play and nature-based activities so often on our blog.
Children who attend Little Acorns Nursery in Hindley Green are fortunate to have access to the nursery’s unusually large garden and outdoor area. Various zones allow them to get involved in nature watching, gardening tasks, sensory play, construction, counting activities, creative play, and a wide variety of outdoor play activities. It’s easy to understand why it’s therefore so popular with the nursery children!
Get in touch to find out more about nursery places at Little Acorns or to arrange a visit. Choose a button below to get started — we’ll be delighted to hear from you:
Little Acorns Nursery provides childcare services in Hindley Green, Wigan. As such, we’re also a great match for families in nearby areas like Bolton, Ince-in-Makerfield, Platt Bridge, Westhoughton, Atherton, Leigh, Bickershaw, and Tyldesley.
Safety Note
Supervision from a responsible parent or adult will always be needed for little ones, especially when children are playing and exploring outdoors. Children will need guidance when it comes to outdoor safety, hazards, and hygiene and, indeed, all such guidance will help educate them about potential dangers and the assessment of risks.
National Children’s Gardening Week arrives in May and is the perfect opportunity for children to get outdoors and enjoy some wholesome, nature-based activities. Starting towards late May, it’s a time when spring is in full swing, the weather is usually fine, and seeds and plants grow fast in the nourishing sunshine. Embraced by children at homes, in childcare settings, schools and community groups across the Nation, this special week is fun, educational, and hugely worthwhile for children. What’s more, it benefits Greenfingers, the chosen charity supported by the initiative.
Many children have an instinctive connection to nature. National Children’s Gardening Week nurtures such instincts by encouraging children to get hands-on in the garden or local green space. As well as helping children discover many new facets about the natural world, activities in this special spring week will also teach them about the circle of life, ecosystems, and a sense of responsibility towards nature. It will also open their eyes to the beauty and wonder of the world as a whole, as well as giving them a greater sense of their place within it. Let’s also not forget that 
Growing mustard, cress, or microgreens is even more simple and can be accomplished entirely indoors if families have no outdoor access. What’s more, the results are very tasty to eat!
Discovery hunts are also fun and entertaining this spring. If children have completed the spring nature hunt above, they can graduate to 
Make a mini garden, also similar to a fairy garden. These are always a huge hit with children, and look magical! 
In our introduction, we mentioned that this fabulous children’s gardening week raises money for Greenfingers. They are a wonderful charity that supports children in hospices. This is achieved by creating beautiful gardens and open spaces where children and their families and friends can spend quality time together. Without the support of Greenfingers, such magical spaces simply wouldn’t exist. Check out 
Calling all children and their families — people of all ages are needed this July and August for the world’s biggest wildlife survey — the Big Butterfly Count! So, whether you’re a child or an adult, you can play your part. This is a great activity for under-fives too as it’ll be fun, educational, and incredibly worthwhile. What’s more, they’ll become little citizen scientists by taking part. The nature-based activity takes as little as just 15 minutes and costs nothing at all. Children don’t need any special abilities other than a little patience and good observation — both great skills for them to practise. Let’s take a look and see what the Big Butterfly Count is all about and how children can take part this year.
The Big Butterfly Count is a nature survey that anyone can take part in during July and August each year. For 2025, it takes place from Friday the 18th of July to Sunday the 10th of August, a period in which temperatures are usually warm and butterfly populations are likely to peak. In essence, all that is required is for butterflies to be counted during a 15-minute period (more detail follows later in this guide). The survey event is open to everyone and, indeed, the more people who take part, the better. So, if you, your child, your family, or your friends want to play a part in protecting butterflies and nature as a whole, please get involved.
The populations of butterflies can be used as a barometer for the health of pollinator numbers and nature as a whole. With some butterfly species already disappearing from our gardens and countryside and others nearing extinction, there is no time to lose. Only by identifying the issues can we, as a nation, begin to reverse some of the decline. By reversing it, it will be good for butterflies, good for other pollinators like bees, good for nature as a whole — and good for humans too! After all, without pollinators, the supply of foods like cereals, fruit, vegetables and legumes would start to run out. So, taking part in the Big Butterfly Count is extremely worthwhile and we urge little ones and their families to take part.
First, ensure you have downloaded and printed out 
Choose a spot for your butterfly survey. It should be somewhere outside where butterflies are most likely to be seen. Sunny, sheltered spots are good, particularly where a variety of different sizes and types of flowers or blossoms are in bloom.
Sometime in the period from Friday the 18th of July to Sunday the 10th of August, you/your child should spend 15 minutes making a note of how many of each type of butterfly you can see. Concentrate only on the species included in the event organiser’s reference from Step 1. You must count how many of each single species you see at the same time. So, if you see three Painted Ladies at the same time, then record that as 3. However, if you see one Painted Lady on three separate occasions during the 15 minutes, that would only count as 1 — otherwise, it could simply be the same butterfly revisiting.
Did You Know?
Nature and outdoor play feature significantly in children’s time at 
Wherever you look, nature’s flowers and trees are bursting with life during spring and summer. This got us thinking about the many nature-based activities that are possible for children and under-5s to enjoy at this time of year — under appropriate supervision, of course. One of them is a simple leaf-hunting activity that’ll get little ones exploring the outdoors, enjoying the fresh air, having some fun, and learning about the natural world. With this in mind, we’ve put together a Leaf Scavenger Hunt reference poster for children and families. It can serve as inspiration for some common leaves to look out for during the warmer months of the year. The poster is free to download, right here today, and highlights 16 different types of leaves. Included are oak, sycamore, beech, lime and many more. Children will probably be familiar with some — especially oak leaves with their wonderful little acorns — while others may be unfamiliar. However, all of our examples were sourced on a single morning’s outing, so it’s feasible to find all 16 kinds with a bit of eagle-eyed persistence! So, download the poster for your children, print it out, and explore the outdoors to see how many of the 16 leaf types your little one can find. See if they can identify the differences which make each species of leaf/tree/plant unique — and learn their names if they can. The free identification poster and some help from an adult should help. Have fun out there!
Some of the leaves will be easier to identify than others. For example, Horse Chestnut (a.k.a. ‘conker tree’) leaves are quite distinctive with their fan of multiple sections (see the 2nd row, last image on the right on the poster for our example). In contrast, hazel and lime leaves are quite similar to one another. One easy clue to tell them apart is that lime leaves are slightly shiny, whereas hazel leaves are extremely matt. And, of course, they have very different seeds once those appear (the lime seed clusters are quite beautiful as you can see on the poster in the 3rd row, 2nd image from the right).
Another interesting factor to point out to children is that some of the leaves come in different colours. Beech leaves, for instance, can be green or deep burgundy, brown or dark purple depending on which variety of beech a child locates. It’s similar for acers, which can be green, yellow, red or a deep purple/maroon. Acers however, are more likely to be found in gardens and parks than in the countryside. Some are a little like miniature sycamores, only rather more delicate and fancy! And, come 
This activity is a great opportunity for children to open their eyes to the natural world. By looking at nature more deeply, they’ll see the finer details that may have been overlooked. Nature is incredibly varied and interesting when you take the time to look closely and discover it properly. It’ll teach children about the natural world, the seasons, the changes in plants and trees at different times of the year, the circle of life, and so much more. Getting out, close to nature, is also incredibly beneficial to children. From busting stress, improving well-being, supporting the EYFS and boosting exercise, to improving concentration and even academic grades, 
Once children have collected them, leaves can inspire various other creative activity ideas for children. For example, has your child ever tried leaf rubbing (putting a leaf under paper and scribbling over it to reveal the leaf structure), leaf pressing (pressing leaves between pages of a heavy book to allow them to dry and flatten), or leaf printing (painting a leaf with paint then pressing it onto paper to offset the leaf’s form as an image)? These are just a few examples of the 
