Earth Day!
Earth Day is April 22nd and what better way to celebrate our planet than some Earth and nature themed activities? Click on the title of any activity below to be linked to more detailed instructions.
Outdoor Color Hunt
Take a piece of scrap cardboard and color in 4 different sections. Grab clothespins and pin one to each section, Head outside with your child and see what nature items you can find that match each color. Collect them and clip them to the matching color section.
Egg Carton Tree
For this beautiful project you will need a piece of cardboard and an empty egg carton. Paint a large tree on the cardboard using watercolors. Let it dry. Then glue individual egg compartments around the tree. Use the same water color paints to turn them into beautiful flowers.
Coffee Filter Art by engaging_littles
This coffee filter art was shared on Instagram by @engaging_littles. Take coffee filters and use green and blue markers to color all over them. Then, spray them with a water filled spray bottle to have the colors blend together. Let that dry. Glue a heart to the middle of the coffee filter for the final step.
Leaf Creatures
Head outside and gather up a variety of different shaped leaves. Then take googly eyes and glue them on the leaves to make these cute little leaf creatures. So simple yet fun!
Leaf Art
On your next walk, keep an eye out for large, flat leaves to collect. Take paint markers and have your child decorate the leaves however they want. Let them fully dry then admire your art!
Earth Lanterns by another_day_in_prek
@another_day_in_prek shared these Earth lanterns on Instagram. Take white paper lanterns and have your child use blue and green paint to create an Earth lantern. Let them dry fully then hang up to enjoy.
Sugar Cube Creations
Have your child spell out "Earth" with sugar cubes then create a circle shape underneath to represent Earth. This can get a little messy so using a baking sheet for this activity is recommended. Add some food coloring to little bowls of water and have your child use an eye dropper to drop the colored water onto the sugar cubes. They can make this as simple or fancy as they want.
Outdoor ABC Hunt
Take a large piece of poster board and divide it up so that each letter of the alphabet has its own square. Head outside with your kids and see how many things you can find that start with each letter. You can either tape the items down or just lay them on the poster board if you think you will want to do this activity again another time.
Mini Earth Sensory Bin Filler by another_day_in_prek
This sensory bin filler was posted on Instagram by @another_day_in_prek. Take dried white beans and dump them in a gallon ziploc bag. Add blue acrylic paint and shake it all around. Then spread them on wax paper to fully dry. Once they are dry, add some small amounts of green acrylic paint and swirl it around to get a little bit of green on each bean. Once they are fully dry you will have little "mini Earth" beans you can use for a festive sensory bin filler.
Magnetic Tile Earth
Gather up all of your green and blue magnetic tiles and create your very own Earth. A fun variation of this is sticking the tiles to your garage door...so fun!
Paper Plate Crown
Go outside with your kids and gather up any flowers you can find. Then, take a paper plate and cut the inner circle out to create a crown shape. Use clear packing tape to tape the flowers onto the crown and just like that you have a beautiful, homemade flower crown for your child to enjoy!
Dirt Writing Tray
Grab a tray or baking sheet that has sides (to help contain the dirt). Then add a very thin layer of dirt to the tray. Give your child a flower with a long stem or a stick to use as their writing tool. They can free draw, write their name, sight words, etc. If they are ready to create something new, just give the tray a little shake to erase their current work.
We hope you are able to find some time to get outside to create some of these fun projects. Happy Earth Day to you!
