We have a range of workshops that are Primary School specific. From Kindergarten to Year 6, you can book workshops that are not only super fun and creative but also directly aligns with the NSW Syllabus. All of our workshops are tape-and-glue free, so we teach low-waste construction techniques like lacing, threading and more. Throughout a workshop, your students are encouraged to use creative problem-solving, collaborating with others, make informed decisions when designing their craft, and to think outside of the box.
If your class is working on a particular project and would like one of our workshops to be aligned with it, we are more than happy to chat about tailoring one to better suit your program. You also have the choice of hosting these workshops or making your way down to us at our Marrickville location! We love having students onsite and are able to run almost all of our workshops in-house!
Every classroom is different and so are our quotes. An individual quote will be provided depending on the minimum expected numbers and length of your visit provided in your booking inquiry form. We hope to hear from you!
Pushmi-Pullyu
Duration: 60 minutes
Venue: Your place or ours
Age: designed for Early Stage 1 students (but can be adapted to other year levels if required)
Capacity: maximum 30 students (or 1x class)
Build a toy that moves – and learn how to get things running without batteries! Kids experiment with push/pull forces and use materials they would find in their own home to make their own battery-free push-toy. Children use low-waste construction techniques as they develop an understanding of how things move.
Giant Loose Parts Play
Duration: 60 minutes
Venue: Your place – this workshop is ideal for a playground or large indoor space like a school hall
Age: from early stage 1 to all primary stages !
Capacity: Up to 30 participants per session
One of our foundational programs, Loose Parts Play is an open-ended play experience that supports students’ development of risk management, self-confidence, imagination, and communication skills. We bring our van of open-ended play materials such as PVC pipes, buckets, banner, and so much more to your centre. Once set up in an open space we’ll give the kids a brief run down about how all our play materials have been reclaimed from landfill and how to use them safely before setting them up to explore. Watch as children repurpose items, making bands, boats, and ball games over the course of the session.
Our giant kit of loose parts are reuse materials that can be moved around, put together, taken apart and rebuilt. Loose Parts Play sessions promote social, active play, stimulates the imagination and inspires innovation, creativity and collaboration. We can provide your students with an open-ended Loose Parts Play session or present them with a group construction challenge such as building a bridge, transporting an endangered animal or any other scenario that supports your learning goals.
It works with every age group and keeps them engaged for hours.
Kooky Characters
Duration: 60 minutes
Venue: Your place or ours
Age: Designed for Stage 1 students (can be adapted to other levels)
Capacity: maximum 30 students (or 1x class)
Students get a little silly in this workshop as they imagine and make a kooky character to take home. Our re-use materials sourced from industrial discards and can inspire some truly crazy creations. Students think through how they can express a personality through the available materials and test their problem-solving skills as they work without glue or tape to piece it all together. This workshop has a strong emphasis on Zero waste making, encouraging students to make careful decisions about how they use materials.
Big box city
Duration: 90 minutes
Venue: Your place or ours
Age: Designed for Stage 1 students (but can be adapted to other levels)
Capacity: maximum 30 students (or 1x class)
In this program students explore what goes into building a thriving city by working both individually and collaboratively to make a model city out of reclaimed materials. Our education team emphasises environmentally friendly aspects of building such as the importance of solar panels and green spaces to teach kids at a young age the range of ways that we as citizens and communities can make healthier choices for our environment. We also emphasise no glue or tape in this workshop, which challenges students to think of more complex ways to build such as tying materials together or using simple wood joinery techniques like slots and tabs.
This activity does not use glue and teaches joining using more sustainable methods.
For this activity we encourage the children to collect and bring small packaging boxes from home (eg, cereal boxes, small gift boxes from light cardboard). This encourages conversations at home about packaging and it’s impact.
This activity is also great as an ongoing whole school activity if your school has the space.
Sustainable House S2
Duration: 90 minutes
Venue: Your place or ours
Age: designed for Stage 2 students (but can be adapted to other year levels if required)
Capacity: Up to 30 participants per session
Explore elements of sustainability as children work collaboratively to design and construct a sustainable house using packaging and other reuse materials. Students will brainstorm different aspects of houses that can help to improve their sustainability, from technology to lifestyle changes. Using simple low-waste construction techniques, they will develop an understanding of visual representation and construct a model of the ultimate sustainable ‘house and land package’. This workshop is all about sustainability on different scales, from the way that we create to the ways we can think about our homes.
Float your Boat
Duration: 60 minutes
Venue: Your place or ours
Age: designed for Stage 2 students (but can be adapted to other year levels if required)
Capacity: Up to 30 participants per session
Set sail with this workshop exploring material buoyancy. Students will be challenged to make a seaworthy vessel with materials that have been reclaimed from landfill. Students will have to make informed guesses about which materials will sink, float, or take on water. Students will work individually to make their vessel, and work in small groups to test their sea worthiness by trying to float them in a small tub of water. Before testing, students will make a prediction as to which boats will sink and which will float.
DIY Packaging
Duration: 90 minutes
Venue: Your place or ours
Age: designed for Stage 2 students (but can be adapted to other year levels if required)
Capacity: Up to 30 participants per session
Investigate the properties of a variety of materials and consider how they can be used to protect products during transport while considering the problem with plastic packaging. Students will work collaboratively with re-use materials to design and make packaging for a range of weird and wonderful items. Students will use a design process and simple low-waste construction techniques to create a prototype of their packaging, then present it to the group explaining the different elements they have taken into consideration.
Sustainable House S3
Duration: 90 minutes
Venue: Your place or ours
Age: designed for Stage 3 students (but can be adapted to other year levels if required)
Capacity: Up to 30 participants per session
Explore elements of sustainability as children work collaboratively to design and construct a sustainable house using packaging and other reuse materials. Students will brainstorm different aspects of houses that can help to improve their sustainability, from technology to lifestyle changes. Using simple low-waste construction techniques, they will develop an understanding of visual representation and construct a model of the ultimate sustainable ‘house and land package’. This workshop is all about sustainability on different scales, from the way that we create to the ways we can think about our homes.
Space Stations and Satellites
Duration: 90 minutes
Venue: your place or ours
Age: designed for Stage 3 students (but can be adapted to other year levels if required)
Capacity: Up to 30 participants per session
Spend some time making your way around the solar system! Working in teams, students use industrial off-casts and e-waste materials to construct a space station, satellites, a lunar model and rockets. Students are challenged to consider the requirements for life in space as well as the opportunities offered by zero gravity as they design and construct their space module without the use of tape or glue.
What our customers say…
Thought Provoking
Thanks again for the most interesting and thought provoking workshop for the students of PetershamTAFE. I will never look at a staple in the same way again.
Petersham, TAFE NSW
Fantastic Visit
Thank you for a fantastic visit to Reverse Garbage last week. It was a great introduction to our sustainability project and the students really enjoyed it.
Granville Boys High School
Great Balance
Thank you for leading such an enjoyable workshop with my Year 9 Design & Technology class. There was a great balance of discussion, historical information and time to explore and make.
St Clare’s College, Waverley
Buy Educator Resources Online!
Looking for education resources? We have a range of loose parts play, STEM, etc. Browse our online store to find more!