Composting is a swirling blend of science, nature, and connection to our food sources from start to finish. (It’s also a swirling blend of kitchen scraps and organic material that build healthy soils).
While there’s serious science behind composting, it’s also seriously fun. Composting with kids gives us all a hands-on way to learn how food waste and organic matter transform into garden nourishment.
Whether you’re looking to start a composting system for the family or try a quick kid-friendly activity, there’s lots of room to incorporate compost into exciting, fruitful, shared learning opportunities.
Bring in the Worms
We all feel like kids when it comes to earthworms. Vermicomposting is an easy and intriguing way to observe natural cycles of decomposition. The worms devour organic matter (or microbes feeding on the matter) and produce castings that provide exceptional nutrition for plants and soils.
I first observed a successful vermicompost setup in college when we visited a sustainable inn during orientation. When the gardener lifted the cover off a large wood-framed, elevated bin in the basement, he revealed a bed of black earth (castings), a few food scraps, and the brass buttons from a pair of Levi’s. The worms ate the jeans. I was hooked.
Successful worm bins require a little research to provide the best habitat and food materials. If children are old enough, they can help source and create the wormy home. You can also purchase a ready-to-use vermicompost bin to make the pile easier for kids to access. I started with an old dresser on the back porch, using the drawers as bins. I wouldn’t recommend it, as all the worms escaped to greener pastures. A modified plastic tub or wooden box does the trick.
You’ll sometimes discover worm bins in public gardens, often in the children’s garden, where kids can see the worms at work and even feed them. Young visitors delight in their progress.
Create a Soil-Arium
Like a terrarium but for decomposing matter, a soil-arium uses a clear container so kids can observe the composting process at work. Crafting a soil jar is a simple and easy way to engage little ones.
In the jar, microorganisms break down kitchen scraps, paper, grass clippings, and leaves. While we can’t see the organisms, kids observe the transformation as they build soil.
Start with a wide-mouth glass or plastic jar with a lid. Add a handful of soil to introduce microbes. Layer newspaper, fruit and vegetable scraps, dried leaves, and grass until the jar is nearly full. Add a cup of rainwater, cap the jar, and poke holes in the lid for oxygen. Place the mixture on a sunny windowsill.
Every two weeks, use a marker to draw a line measuring the material’s height as the whole mixture breaks down. Within about 12 weeks, they’ll have pure, ready-to-use compost.
Grab a Pail
Like the jar activity, a bucket or pail is an easy way to start a mini-composting experiment because kids can collect kitchen scraps. They can also use a coffee can, lidded container, or resealable bag.
Add the scraps (no meat or dairy) to the bucket when they have enough. Include brown material (leaves, pinestraw, woodchips) and greens (vegetable scraps, grass clippings, tender plant material). Use three to four times more browns than greens.
Once or twice a week, turn the material or give the pail a shake. The fresh soil amendment will be ready in about a month.
Build a Bin
To begin composting regularly, establish your overall system, including the bin or pile where kids can regularly add inputs. There are numerous ways to compost at home.
Piles work well in areas where tidiness, space, and wildlife (including rodents) aren’t concerns. Piles are easy to turn, observe, and access. Bins, available in numerous configurations or to build, contain the materials in an organized way to accommodate various sizes and setups.
Nine cubic feet works well for most home operations, and a three-by-three mesh-lined and lidded box is an easy option. You may want to go bigger with a triple bin system for easy access at various stages of decomposition.
Let kids pitch in on crafting the system, helping to install a prefab module like a tumbler, or building a bin. This is a fun way to start the project from the ground up.
In the Kitchen
Kitchen systems bring innovative, tidy, odor-free, and compact ways to utilize food waste and scraps for garden health. From small countertop systems to larger receptacles, the indoor process is convenient, accessible, and easy to implement in day-to-day life.
Children play as much a role in kitchen systems as adults. They’ll probably be able to teach us a thing or two about it and keep scraps on track once they get the hang of it.
Feed the Pile
With their new bin, kitchen system, or hungry worms, feeding the compost pile can become a regular practice.
Aim for layers of browns and greens to foster healthy microbes for a clean, earthy result. Browns are carbon-rich and include straw, dried leaves, plant material, and paper. Greens are high in nitrogen and include kitchen scraps (non-meat or dairy), grass clippings, animal manure, coffee grounds, and garden vegetation.
A balanced system has more browns than greens. Maintain about three to four times more browns to avoid a soggy, stinky pile.
With regular aeration (turning and flipping) and consistent moisture, a healthy system works to create the rich compost we need. Involve kids in the most rewarding part of the process – utilizing the output to nourish new growth and build healthy soils. If you have a bounty, maybe they can even share it with friends and neighbors.
Play in the Leaves
Fall is for jumping into piles of leaves. Put those piles to good use (after playing!) by reserving them as brown material. Let them also decompose into leaf mold. Leaves are a renewable resource and a mulch, compost, and soil conditioner all in one.
It takes about six months for leaf material to break down completely. Use them at any stage as leaf mulch to insulate roots and improve soils. Completely broken down leaves yield leaf mold, a valuable resource for amending native soils at planting and for topdressing.
Enjoy the season, and when the leaves drop, don’t rush to clear them. Keep them where they fall, distribute them among beds, save them for compost, make leaf mulch, and, of course, jump in some fluffy piles.
