Activities

Investigating the Garbage Truck PDF FACEBOOK SHARE ICON.

Extend your child's interest in trucks using the 4E's

What You Need:

Books about: the garbage truck, the landfill/transfer station, and/or recycling

A blank monthly calendar and markers or crayons

What To Do:

Join your child in watching the garbage truck collect your trash, allowing her to watch for several days while commenting on your observations. You might say, “Today he is collecting our recycled waste.”

Listen carefully to the questions your child asks. Read books or show her children’s videos about the garbage truck.

Keep a monthly calendar to tally: the days the garbage truck collected your family’s trash, the color of the bin, and the time the trash was collected. At the end of the month, talk about her findings.

If possible, take your child to your community dump or transfer station so she can see first-hand where the trash goes and what the workers do with it. Talk about what she sees, hears, and smells.

Have her draw a picture or act out her experience using toy vehicles, roads, and newspaper/recyclables to represent trash, and have her explain it to you.

Talk about things she learned and listen for questions she may still have. For example, if she is curious about recycling, give her hands-on opportunities to explore this topic further.

Tell Me a Story

With your family, share different stories from the past with your child.

Easy Spaghetti and Meatballs

Make this meal after reading a story about spaghetti and meatballs such as "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"

Lasagna Cups

A yummy meal that's perfect for little hands!

Cooking teaches valuable lessons such as math and science concepts, fine motor skills, and language development. As you make this recipe with your child, ask questions throughout the process and encourage his thinking skills.