The Trash Palace
In The Trash Palace, a pile of old rubbish becomes something magical — a place for play, music, and imagination. This story helps children see everyday “waste” in new ways and sparks creative thinking about how we can reuse and recycle.
Available as a paperback and eBook, it’s great for classroom reading, library storytime, or sharing on the smartboard.
Great for: Classes learning about recycling, sustainability, or creative reuse, and a perfect companion for National Recycling Week activities.
Suitable for: Prep – Year 3
Curriculum links: Sustainability | Visual Arts | English | Design & Technologies
Learning focus:
- Understanding recycling and reuse
- Using imagination to repurpose materials
- Expressing ideas through art and writing
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Activity: Build your own Trash Palace
Worksheet title: If I could build my own Trash Palace…
Instructions (for students):
Imagine your own Trash Palace! What would it look like? What could you build from old things?
Draw your design on the worksheet. Label what each part is made from.
Examples:
“An old tyre becomes a swing.”
“Cardboard boxes become a castle.”
Extension idea: Write a short description of what makes your Trash Palace special.
Download the worksheet
Activitiy: What belongs in the bin?
Worksheet type: sorting activity
Cut out the pictures and glue them into the right column:
- Rubbish
- Recycling
- Reuse
Teacher tip:
This activity builds vocabulary around waste categories and supports understanding of local recycling rules.
Available as two printable worksheets:
- Cut-out sheet – items to sort
- Sorting chart – glue each item into the right column
Download the (cut-out) worksheet
Download the (sorting chart) worksheet
Activity: Recycled music jam
Activity type: STEM + Art
Instructions:
Just like in The Trash Palace, you can make music with rubbish!
Use clean recyclables (bottles, tins, boxes) to make your own instrument.
Worksheet: They can record their discoveries by listing what they used, what sound it made, and what they called their new instrument.
Extension: Perform your class “Trash Band” song!
Download the worksheet
Activity: class poster or wall collage
Turn your classroom into a Trash Palace!
Instructions (for teachers):
- Use a blank wall space. Title it “[your class name]’s Trash Palace”.
- Students draw or cut and paste something they’ve reused or could reuse.
- Arrange everyone’s work to build one giant Trash Palace together!
- Add speech bubbles or labels like “I reused this!” or “Made from old stuff!”
Download the poster
Activity: Hot Chips Christmas colouring
This silly season, the ibis crew are getting creative — decorating a Christmas tree made of hot chips with rubbish they’ve found!
Students can colour in the scene and then add their own decorations made from things that could be reused or recycled.
Encourage them to think about how we can turn “trash into treasure” — even at Christmas time.
Extension ideas:
- Draw one more decoration for the ibis to hang.
- Write a short sentence: “My recycled decoration is made from…”
- Talk about how we can reduce waste over Christmas.
Download the colouring