Can you buy nothing for 24 hours?

“Mummy, can I have….” is an all too familiar start to a sentence in most families. Children are bombarded with advertising from an early age, and the urge to spend is deeply ingrained.

Buy Nothing Day on Saturday, November 27, is a challenge to buck the trend, to pull tight the purse strings, and buy nothing for 24 hours. The aim of the day is to highlight the damage done by our rampant spending, and it’s the perfect opportunity to teach children about both the environmental and the ethical impact of consumerism, and to reinforce a ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ mantra.

The Buy Nothing Day website has lots of useful information about the day and why it is important, but if you’re looking for some extra inspiration, here are some ideas for activities to try with the kids that won’t cost a penny.

I'd love to hear your ideas too, what can you add?

Reduce waste - creative cookery

Every year in the UK we throw away 8.3 million tonnes of food. Pretty shocking isn’t it? So this Buy Nothing Day, don’t even think about buying extra food. Instead, have a rummage at the back of the fridge, ransack the cupboards, and get creative with the kids in the kitchen. Maybe you could see who can come up with the most unusual sandwich filling, or the tastiest pizza topping? Love Food Hate Waste has loads of brilliant ideas for reducing waste and recipes for using up leftovers.

Reuse – scrap modelling

You’ve finished the toilet paper and drunk all the orange squash, but that doesn’t mean the packaging is ready for the bin. It seems crazy that we spend so much money on ‘craft materials’, when our recycling boxes at home are a veritable treasure trove of craft goodies. Challenge the kids to create a masterpiece of design and engineering, using empty tubes, cereal boxes and milk cartons – it’s what we did before the Internet and games consoles remember? For inspiration, check out the fabulous arts and craft website Red Ted Art.

Recycle with a toy swap party

Just because you aren’t spending any money, doesn’t mean you can’t have new stuff! How about inviting a group of friends round for a toy swap party? Each child brings a selection of good quality toys that they no longer use, and gets the chance to swap with someone else for something new. Any unwanted toys at the end of the party can be donated to a local charity shop to raise money for a good cause, such as Oxfam.