Picker Pals 2025 / 2026
Picker Pals Website: https://pickerpalsworld.org/
What is Picker Pals?
Picker Pals is a FREE environmental education programme from VOICE Ireland for primary and special schools (through English & As Gaeilge). Our main target age is 6-9, however all applications are considered. It inspires young children to lead their families on litter-picking adventures in their local communities just like the “Picker Pals” characters they meet in our stories and books.
How Does it Work?
Each classroom gets a “Picker Pack” with enough equipment for one child to bring home at a time to lead their family on litter-picks. After that, they bring the pack back to school and tell their classmates how they got on before a new child gets their turn. It runs like this all year, so the children get used to hearing about litter and the environment each week. We back all this up with a year’s worth of online environmental lessons and competitions about topics like The Circular Economy, Recycling and Biodiversity. We run the programme in both English and Irish and provide everything a teacher needs, so it’s very easy to run in class.
Why is it Needed?
We see Picker Pals as a way of creating a life-long sense of responsibility for the environment. The magic of the programme is how much the children love getting their turn with the pack and then being THE BOSS in their families on the litter-picks. It shows them from a young age that they can play a positive role in the environment and that attitude hopefully sticks with them for life!
How Can Schools Get Involved?
Teachers and principals can sign up using our form, which is available on our website www.pickerpalsworld.org or using the link shown below. Our spaces are limited and we always try to share them out as fairly as we can. We encourage parents and other interested people to let their schools know about us. We’ll still accept applications for the first couple of weeks in September too.
Picker Pals Teacher's Guide: https://pickerpalsworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/PP_TG_2024_E-1.pdf#
Other Benefits of joining Picker Pals:
Easy to Run
Fully supported with resources and activities and hugely popular with kids, 97% of teachers said they would recommend Picker Pals to other teachers.
Kids activate their families and communities
Each week, a different child takes home the Picker Pack and leads their family on a picking adventure. 92% of teachers got great feedback from parents.
Learning Outcomes
Picker Pals cultivates resilience, confidence and self-reliance in young participants while engaging families and communities in collective action to make the world better.