Earth Day is on Tuesday, April 22nd. What better way to spend it than teaching your kids how they can live more sustainably each day? To help you get your family geared up for the day, here’s some fun, kid-friendly activities that help your kids learn the importance of protecting our planet.
Start with the Three R’s
Lay the groundwork of sustainability with your children by teaching them the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. The conversation doesn’t have to be long, nor extensive; in fact, it’s better if it’s simple and to the point. But it’s a great introduction to any or all of these eco-friendly activities. Simply help your child understand that the earth is our home, and so we all have a role in taking care of it. You can use this explanation: Reducing our use of things like water and plastic means more water for other people and the plants and animals on earth, and less plastic filling up our oceans. Reusing things means finding new and creative ways to reuse things in our home, like old clothing or cans and plastic bottles. And recycling means that when we do have to throw those items away, someone else can remake them into something they can use.
Plant a Promise Tree
Find a tree branch on the ground, or use one snipped from pruning a tree in your yard. Place it in a container or vase. Then, collect papers (the more different colors, the better!) from around the house that you are going to get rid of or recycle. Have your child or cut out shapes that look like leaves, and use a hole punch to make a hole on one of the ends of each “leaf.” Have your child write a “promise” of how they are going to help take care of the planet on each leaf shape. (Some examples of promises may be to turn the faucet off while they’re brushing their teeth, or turn off the lights when they leave their room.)
Have a Beach/Cleanup Day
Combine a fun family outing with a lesson about cleaning up our environment. Spend part of the time swimming and playing, and the other half doing a beach cleanup! Walk down the beach and have everyone gather trash into a bag. To make it even more enjoyable, have a “scavenger” hunt, with specific items like looking for a certain color or type of trash. You can also combine cleaning up trash with collecting shells. And you can even add a little incentive: at the end of the day, the person that collects the most trash gets a special treat!
Make a Bee Hotel
Between climate change and pesticide use, the population of bees and other pollinators has been declining at an alarming rate. Since a lot of the issue is also caused by habitat loss, so manmade bee hotels offer a safe haven for bees to call home, lay eggs, and shelter from cold weather in winter months. Teach your children about the importance of bee pollination for our food crops, as well as our entire ecosystem, while crafting a bee hotel from everyday items. All you need is a tin can or plastic bottle, some scrap paper, scissors, a pencil, tape, glue, twigs, and string.
First, carefully cut the top off the tin can or water bottle, and then have your child wrap it with paper, securing the edges with tape. Have them decorate them however they wish (stickers, markers, etc.). Then, using a pencil, have the child roll up a piece of scrap paper into a tube with a hole inside. Secure the paper tube with tape and repeat until they have about 30 tubes. Put a thin layer of glue at the bottom of the can or bottle, and stick the paper tubes inside so that you can see several holes from the top. Then tie a piece of string on each end of the can or bottle, leaving about 10 to 12” on each end, so that you can tie them to a tree branch. Pick a tree with a sunny location away from foot traffic, and hang the bee hotel. Then check on it every few days to see if you have new bee tenants!
Shop at a Local Favorite Spot
To teach your kids the value of shopping locally—not only for the environment, but the community as a whole—stop by your favorite farmer’s market, local grocer, or other locally owned business. Have your child pick out a little treat, like some fresh, local produce or maybe some handmade soap. Encourage them to ask the shop owner questions about where they get, or grow, their produce, how they handmake their product, and other questions your child may be curious about. Ask them to make a thank you card at home, to take to the business owner on your next visit there. Likely, it will be a visit your child and the shop owner won’t soon forget!
