With Earth Day fast approaching, we wanted to help you keep your children entertained and having fun, while still opening up the opportunity for you to chat with them about environmental responsibility. Try one of these 25 ideas for what to do with your kids on Earth Day:
1) Write a poem about Earth, or your child’s favorite flower, on parchment paper. Add dried and pressed flowers to go along and laminate to create bookmarks your child can give to their loved ones.
2) Use left-over canning jars to make a calming jar to calm a toddler’s outburst or an adult’s fried nerves.
3) Take a hike through your neighborhood equipped with gloves and pick up trash that collects along the roads and waterways.
4) Recycle those empty cereal boxes into all manner of fun items like a matching game, a brightly colored mobile, or even make turkey puppets.
5) Save electricity. After the sun goes down, don’t turn on the lights, play “In the Dark” hide-and-seek.
6) Save the air by staying home this Earth day; try one of these fun and free ways to keep your children entertained without going anywhere.
7) After dark, grab your trusty flashlight and tell “Round-about” stories, which are tons of fun and encourage your children to use their ever growing vocabularies.
8) Who doesn’t have empty toilet paper tubes lying around the house? Admit it and then put them to good use in this quick and easy binoculars craft for your little explorers.
9) Use those mismatched socks to create your own hand puppets and put on a play.
10) Give your old picture frames new life with sea shells, small beans, or tiny beads you have in the craft drawer.
11) Gather up your spare blankets and chairs to make a super fort for your Earth Day super-heroes.
12) Recycle broken crayons into a beautiful work of art in this leaf suncatcher craft and bring the colors of the Earth into your home.
13) Go for a nature hike in your back yard and collect acorns, twigs, and rocks to make your own fairy garden.
14) Slather a few pinecones with peanut butter and roll them in bird seed to hang on your trees for a bird-sized snack.
15) Make a living herb box so that you can share the fruits of your Earth Day labor for many dinners to come.
16) Plant a fruit tree. What a perfect opportunity to teach your children about the importance of trees and their role in keeping our air clean and providing sustenance.
17) Make homemade oatmeal playdough from three ingredients you probably already have in your home: oatmeal, flour, and water.
18) Curl up together and read your favorite books about the Earth, our environment, and Earth Day.
19) Build a compost bin to reduce the amount of trash your family creates and make feeding your plants more affordable and efficient.
20) Visit your local farmer’s market and enjoy the friendly atmosphere and tasty treats, while teaching your children about the importance of eating local and knowing what is on your food.
21) Don’t throw away all of your old magazines and school flyers, their pages make gorgeous recycled beads for a fun Earth day necklace.
22) Use old paper to create paper-mache masks or other sculptures.
23) Have fun and make a mess with homemade detergent paint. Now you and your child can paint until their heart’s content without fear of harmful chemicals.
24) Give your children the gift of words. Sit down with your kids today and write and illustrate a book; let your kids come up with the story and the illustrations; you’re just there to provide assistance as needed.
25) Transform your old soda bottle into a home for a friendly bug or just a place to grow your favorite plan by making a terrarium.
What will you be doing with your family this Earth Day?
Image Credit: WoodlyWonderworks
Awesome ideas! My 4-year-old has been loving helping me spring clean with a squirt bottle of vinegar and water. Just bought some essential oil this week to mask the vinegar smell, though 🙂
I love essential oils! Lemon or Lime is inexpensive and smells great added to a homemade cleaning solution. 🙂
Great post- love the ideas. We walked around our neighborhood and picked up trash last year for Earth Day. We have been doing more nature walks also, and recycling everything possible! lol I’m also excited to take them to a local Earth Fair next weekend.
What fun! I’d love to try out the recycled beads from magazines craft. We recycle and pick up trash in our neighborhood.