Earth day activities for kids are a great way to teach them about environmental consciousness and make them feel like they can do their part in making the world a better place. After all, kids want to be good stewards of the Earth just as adults do. What’s more, if done right, these activities will also excite your child’s imagination and creativity — which are extremely useful skills in a world running out of resources.
Earth Day is a huge day for the environment and a huge day for children. The purpose of having Earth day is to make people aware of environmental issues and make them feel its importance by celebrating what the world has to offer. Since kids are still young, it’s important that they learn about their environment and take part in preserving it. We at NY Baby Steps give importance to creativity and fun as part of our activities. Therefore, we have picked some creative earth day activities for kids to promote environmental consciousness.
Here are nine fun earth day activities you can give your little ones this Earth Day.
9 Creative Earth Day Activities For Kids:
1. Connect With Nature
Everybody knows that kids love to explore and interact with the world around them. It is a great way to introduce children to nature and have fun. One essential thing you can do is take a walk outside and let your children take in the fresh air. You can have them look at trees, flowers, and all nature offers. They will love it because they will be learning things they never knew existed around them. Kids also enjoy playing outside, so why not make a game of it? You can set up an obstacle course for your kids to run through or hide small objects in their play space for them to find.
2. Grow A Love For Plants
Learning how plants grow is a great way to help your little one grow a love for nature and plants. We have many different ways of growing plants indoors, outdoors, or in containers. We also have different plants we can use to experiment with, such as lettuce, spinach, cabbage, and other vegetables. You can experiment with growing different kinds of fruits and see which ones your child seems to enjoy the most. You can even have them help you water the plants and take care of them as if they were their own.
When you let your child grow their plants, they will better understand how it feels to take care of something alive. This can later lead them to want to help out pets and animals. It’s a great step towards teaching them environmental consciousness.
3. Teach Children To Recycle
It’s very important for your child to learn at an early age how important it is for us to recycle our trash instead of throwing it away in landfills. You can do this by taking simple daily activities and turning them into a lesson to teach your child the importance of recycling. For example, you can say, ” whenever we use something new such as papers or new plastic containers, we need to recycle those because they are made with old stuff. We don’t want to put them in the trash or flush them in the toilet because they could be there forever.” You can also make paper bags and label them “for recycling.” You can also encourage your children to engage in recycling activities such as collecting discarded things or using recycled products. Indeed, recycling is one of the best earth day activities for kids.
4. Teach Kids How To Compost
Composting is a natural way of recycling our waste. It’s not only important for the environment, but it’s also very useful in our daily lives. Instilling this knowledge can be helpful when you are struggling with what to do with trash and other waste when there is no trash pick up. You can make a compost bin by using old plastic containers, tin cans, or jars if your child is old enough, or simply using fallen leaves and leaves from your yard and garden. You can also buy a composting kit from the store to give yourself a little help.
Here are the simple ways how to make compost:
a. Place the composting materials in a bin, a container, or somewhere spacey and close it with a lid. This will help you control the smell and keep pests away.
b. Turn or mix your compost materials at least once or twice to make sure they rot evenly. This will also help your composting activity to go faster.
c. Water your plants regularly and keep checking if your compost is getting ready to use. If not, give it some more time and make sure you turn it again when needed so that it is evenly rotted out; there are no longer any plant pieces visible inside the pile of materials in the bin.
d. You can use the compost you make after it has been in your bin a while. Soak plants in it, and use it as an ingredient to fill pots or containers.
5. Play Games
When you are taking care of our Earth, it’s important that we do it in a fun way. That’s why I think games are a great way to teach children how crucial it is for us to take care of our home planet. You can make up games such as “catch the garbage that people throw,” “be careful not to litter,” and many other environmental lessons that will help children learn from them.
Most fun Earth Day Games for kids to play:
- Earth Day Scavenger Hunt: There are a lot of fun Scavenger Hunt activities for kids to enjoy, and this one is good to do in a group. In order to enjoy this game, ask children to make a list of natural elements commonly found in nature, like leaves, stones, flowers, and acorns. Make two copies of the list, divide the kids into two teams and hand each team a list along with a container for their found objects. The team that returns first with all of the items on the list wins the game.
- Backyard Bug Hunt: When they are outside playing, ask them to collect bugs and insects. You can even give them small containers to carry them in so that they don’t mess up the bin with their play. Help kids observe how the bugs act for a while and pass on some information about bugs’ nice things for the environment. When done, set the bugs free.
- Watering Can Brigade: With this game, set up a line of watering cans by the hose or patio faucet. Tell your kids to use their watering cans to fill the cans in their lines. This is a great way to show them how we can help water our plants, plants growing in our lawns, and other areas around us.
6. Earth Day Crafts For Kids
Crafts are also an ideal way to celebrate Earth Day. You can teach your children how to make beautiful decorations out of recycled materials by recycling the things you have at home. Don’t be afraid to use paper and plastic bags; you can recycle them just like other items. You can also recycle old newspapers and magazines, give them to children to cut out shapes and images they like, and come up with a crafty activity for the whole family.
Here are some suggestions for crafts for kids:
- Salt Dough Necklaces: Making crafts with salt dough is a fun project that children can master. You can also add food coloring to it to make your color for your necklaces. You can find the tutorial at Kitchen Counter Chronicles.
- Grass Crown: Children love this activity because it is easy to do and enjoyable. For more information on how to make it, you can visit Delia Creates.
- Papier-Mâché Fish: Teach your kids about life in the ocean as you help them crafts fish or their favorite character Nemo. This activity is easy to do with water and flour and recycled items like cereal boxes and newspapers.
- Milk Carton Birdhouse: One of Earth Day’s most important lessons is the significance of caring for all living creatures, and this craft helps teach it. Check for complete instructions here.
7. Go Bird Watching
Bird watching is one of the easiest ways to teach your little ones how to take action in protecting our planet. You can find more than just finches and sparrows when you are birdwatching. You can find rare types of birds that you never imagined. Bird watching is one of the most fun earth day activities for kids, especially when their parents join them! They will have a memorable time bonding and ensuring that they don’t miss any part of the activity.
8. Read Stories About Nature
Children love stories about nature, and this is an easy way to ensure that they will learn more about it while reading. You can also help your kids by encouraging them to read books on their own. The best thing about it is that you don’t need to buy a single book in order for your kids to enjoy it. You can use whatever interesting books are available in the house and add some of your favorite stories into the mix!
9. Watch Nature Documentaries
Another way to help your children learn more about nature is watching documentaries about it. You can show them how the Earth was formed and how life was in the past before humans existed. It will give them a better idea of how we should all treat the Earth because it is a precious gift for all of us, not just for present generations but also for future ones.
Final Thoughts
There are many things you can do to ensure that your children take action on protecting the Earth. And the ideas mentioned above are some of the ways to do it.
Children need to be responsible for the future of our planet. Whether we like it or not, everything they do today will affect the people who come after them. Teach them how important it is to be loving towards our planet and its creatures, no matter how tiny they may be or how big they may seem.
Here at NY Baby Steps, we believe it is important to teach our children the values and morals that will shape their future. Each of us must play a vital role in ensuring that future generations can live on a healthy planet. We also know how difficult it is for parents who are always busy with their daily routines, so we have created this web page full of information about how you can make this world a better place for your children.
We hope you learned some new and creative ways to spend time with your little ones while teaching them important values at the same time. Please remember that the children are our future, and they will be responsible for caring for our planet when they become adults, so please help them care for our planet today.