Earth Day is right around the corner. It all started on April 22, 1970. It is a time when people all across the country show their support for taking care of our planet. Other countries are now adopting Earth Day celebrations, too. So, here are some fun Earth Day activities to help our kids celebrate the day. Hopefully, if you start young, they will begin to see the importance of taking care of our planet.
If you are looking for some activities to have some Earth Day fun, here are some things you and your kids can do.
Earth Day Activities with Kids
Clean Up
It’s Spring! Get outside and clean up. Clean up the trash where you live. Grab a bag and some gloves, and walk around your neighborhood. I’m sure there is plenty of trash on the side of the roads after the winter. It is certainly an easy Earth Day activity that can make a big impact on your neighborhood.
Tip: Bring two bags: one for trash and one for bottles and cans. You won’t have to sort it later or throw it away instead of recycling the bottles and cans.
Art Time
Now is a great time to teach your kids about reusing old materials. What better way than by going through your recycle bins and making some art? There are so many things you can make with recyclable materials. Here are just a few ideas.
- Tin cans: Robots, pencil holders, outdoor planters
- Plastic Milk jugs: storage containers, scoops, Easter Baskets, piggy bank
- Cardboard Juice Containers: birdfeeders, birdhouses, boats.
- Toilet Paper (Paper towel) Tubes: Okay, well, there are enough crafts on Pinterest for a craft a day. We have also used them to make marble mazes on the wall, make binoculars, and confetti poppers.
- Using containers, tubes, and cardboard boxes to make a track for cars or small balls to go through.
- Melt old crayons to make new crayons.
- Games. (My daughter made a skeet ball game with cardboard boxes and old yogurt cups.)
There are so many fun creatures, vehicles, towers, buildings, and more that you can make with recycled materials. Your imagination (or Pinterest ideas) is the limit.
Plant Something
Depending on your area, you can begin planning or planting a garden. We are still a little ways off from starting a garden here. It is just too cold. It is a great time to plan what you might want to plant. You can also learn to grow vegetables inside, like with this indoor celery project, from kitchen scraps.
You can even incorporate math by measuring out the garden and sectioning it off.
Get some old yogurt containers, egg cartons, or ice cream cones and start some seedlings inside. Egg cartons and ice cream cones are biodegradable.
Besides vegetable gardens, there are flower gardens. A great way to help our environment is to grow new things. Plant a tree. Plan out a flower bed that will help feed the bees, birds, or butterflies. Again start seedlings inside that can be planted later when it is your growing season.
Earth Day YouTube Videos
YouTube has some videos about the history of Earth Day and ways kids can help the Earth. One video that provides a lot of information on how kids can help their environment is Happy Earth Day by SciShow Kids.
Younger kids may enjoy Earth Day by PlayKids. It is a cute video set to music that teaches kids how they can help the environment and how the environment is important to us.
If you want a cute song for kids to learn on Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, you will like the Kiboomers song. It is simple and easy to learn. It teaches the basics of recycling.
Earth Day Activity: Cooking!
Earth Day Cookies
I haven’t met a kid that doesn’t like to bake something. Every holiday has fun recipes. Earth Day is no exception. At Delish, they have an Earth Day cookie recipe that is a simple and fun treat. All you need is sugar cookie dough and blue and green dye. It is so easy for ANY age to do.
Solar Oven S’mores and More
If you don’t want to use the oven, make a solar oven with your kids. Check out the three solar oven project ideas. It is a great way to teach your kids about renewable energy and alternative energy sources. Plus, you get in some science and a yummy treat!
Earth Day Word Search
Time to practice your reading skills and vocabulary with this fun Earth Day word search puzzle! Please visit Education.com for more engaging reading activities!
Download the word search and answer key below. Courtesy of Education.com.
wordsearch_earthday-1Earth Day is formally acknowledged once a year, but
Make solar ovens, reuse recyclable materials, grow something at your house, and test your vocabulary skills about Earth Day. There are plenty of ways to make Earth Day fun!
How do you like to celebrate Earth Day with your kids?
