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Earth Day Activities: 15 Ideas for the Whole Family

In many parts of the world, April brings daffodils, migratory birds, budding fruit trees—and Earth Day. This annual event takes place on April 22 to mark the birth of the environmental movement and to honor the abundance—as well as the fragility—of our planet’s lands and oceans. A yearly reminder of our role in keeping the planet healthy, it’s also a wonderful opportunity to engage in Earth Day family activities that promote love and respect for the natural world.

Watering can and terracotta pots, floral dinnerware

When Was the First Earth Day?

The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970, the year that Gaylord Nelson, a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, proposed a national program on the environment. An Earth Day organization was formed and the date of April 22 was selected as it fell between school breaks and final exams, and enabled full involvement of students and families. On the first Earth Day, 20 million Americans took to the streets to march in support of a healthy, sustainable planet. In 1990, Earth Day went global, bringing environmental issues to the world stage every year.

Things to Do on Earth Day

Celebrating Earth Day can be as simple as taking a walk in a park or forest preserve to soak up the sights and sounds of a fine spring day. Or you and your family can engage in a project or game that will give your children hands-on experiences with the wonders of nature. Earth-related activities are only limited to your time and imagination. We’ve gathered together some Earth Day kids’ activities that young and old can participate in for an enjoyable and educational celebration.

Coffee table with decorative vases, gardening kit with hand shovel

Earth Day Crafts

The following fun Earth Day activities made out of natural materials will keep the whole family busy and engaged.

Pressed Flowers in the Microwave. Spring brings an abundance of new flowers and plants, including daffodils, tulips, violets and green shoots and leaves. You can preserve all this beauty by dehydrating flowers in the microwave. First, ask young children to gather flowers from the garden or have them select their favorites from a purchased bouquet. Position flowers between several layers of paper towels or a folded dish towel, then top with a plate and a glass full of water, which will weigh down the plate and modulate the microwave temperature. Microwave on a low temperature setting in five to six 30-second intervals, checking the flowers after each one. To create a lovely Earth Day card, have children glue the pressed flowers onto a folded piece of heavyweight paper or card stock and decorate with colored pencils or crayons.

Pollinator Cottage. Solitary pollinators are just as important for fertilizing plants as hive-dwelling bees. Here’s how to make them a home that will keep them around. Wash out a soup can and have children paint the exterior yellow with black stripes. To enable the can to hang horizontally, hammer a nail at the base and rim on one side of the can to create holes, through which you can thread twine for hanging. Have children insert bamboo sticks (cut to can size in advance) into the can until they are well packed. Suspend the can from a tree branch or mount under the garage eaves to give pollinators a protected place to take up residence.

Beeswax Candles. Show your support for honeybees with this easy Earth Day craft. Textured like honeycomb, rolled beeswax taper candles are simple to make and burn without releasing toxic chemicals or smoke. In advance of your Earth Day crafting, purchase sheets of natural beeswax and candle wicking. Cut the sheets into rectangles with the short end measuring the length of the candle. Cut the wick about an inch longer than the length of the short end. Place the wick along the end of the short side with an extra bit of wick extending out on one end. Then begin rolling the wax tightly around the wick and keep rolling until you reach the end. The wax sticks to itself so there’s no need to secure the end seam.

Kids playing with plush campfire toys, canvas pup tent with toys

Earth Day Activities for Toddlers

Even the youngest members of the family can get in on Earth Day activities. Outdoor activities allow little ones to interact directly with nature, but if rain is in the forecast there is no shortage of age-appropriate projects for indoor crafting.

Treasure or Trash Hunt. Send youngsters on a supervised treasure and trash hunt in your backyard or nearby park. Give them a verbal or illustrated list of several items to gather or point out. Try having them scout a spring flower, an unopened tree bud, a pebble, a coin and items that should be thrown out or recycled.

Earth Sun Catchers. This glittery decoration is a daily reminder to appreciate the majesty of our beautiful planet. It also gives plastic lids another use before they’re recycled. Have tots spread a circle of school glue on a lid and sprinkle on blue and green glitter. Older children can try their skill at replicating the globe’s oceans and continents. The suncatchers will need to dry for several days depending upon the thickness of the glue. When glue peels off easily, they’re ready to be trimmed with scissors into a neat circle, punched with a hole and laced up with ribbon or twine for hanging in a sunny window.

Plant a Treat. If the weather is too soggy to plant seeds outside, try an Earth Day craft for toddlers that sprouts deliciousness—dirt cakes! Recipes abound for this delightful treat that fills mini terra cotta flower pots with pudding. Toddlers can add a top layer of “dirt” made of ground-up chocolate sandwich cookies along with gummy worm candies, edible flowers and sprigs of mint.

Girl watering felt garden set, spring cookie cutter shape cookies

More Fun and Games for the Whole Family

Earth Day is perfectly timed to get people outside and thinking about the natural environment. Turn to these lively outdoor games and activities if weather permits.

Create a Tree Spirit. Using non-toxic, eco-friendly and self-hardening clay, add on to a tree’s natural beauty with your own sculptural embellishments. Find a tree with lots of interesting characteristics such as burls and knots that can be transformed with clay into a face or animal. Take some time looking at the tree to see what shapes and forms might unleash your creative spirit. Clay, a natural substance, will harden and eventually fall off, dissolving into the soil without leaving a trace.

Human-Scale Solar System. Help children get a sense of where Earth is located in the solar system and how vast the distances are between the planets by creating a human-scale model with each step representing 36 million miles. Working with a group of nine in a park or large backyard, determine who will represent the Sun and each of the planets. Beginning with Mercury taking one step away from the centrally positioned Sun, continue with Venus at 2 steps, Earth at 3, Mars at 4, Jupiter at 13, Saturn at 25, Uranus at 50 and Neptune at 78. Once everybody is in position, have them walk or run around the Sun in their respective orbits.

The Hunt Is On. Geocaching, a high-tech, interactive type of treasure hunt appeals to older kids and adults. All you need is a location-enabled mobile phone or handheld GPS device. Go to Geocaching.com, enter your location and check out a list of geographical coordinates to find geocaches, hidden containers other geocachers have filled with small items or messages.

Tried and True Games. Get some teams together and revisit outdoor favorites for Earth Day games for kids of all ages. Tug of War, wheelbarrow races and Capture the Flag are for the active crowd, while the more sedate Hide and Seek and Blind Man’s Bluff are perfect for little kids as well as grandparents.

Silver rabbit and serving bowls, serveware with vegetable appetizers

Earthy Eats and Treats

Take time to nourish yourself on Earth Day with foods that honor Earth’s bounty. Make sure organically grown fruits and vegetables and sustainably sourced foods star on your Earth Day buffet. To limit the environmental impact of your meal, avoid using plastic dinnerware and utensils, opting instead for washable plates and glasses or compostable disposables.

A salad bar is a fun and healthy way to appreciate the earth and those who farm and harvest it. Lay out a spread of lettuces, chopped vegetables, fresh berries, seeds and nuts, accompanied by healthy dressings such as tahini ranch, basil vinaigrette and orange miso.

For a repast that’s a bit more hearty, add taco shells, shredded cheese, beans and salsa to the array.

As a tribute to life-giving water, offer a drink dispenser filled with still or sparkling water flavored with sliced oranges, strawberries or chunked pineapple.

Desserts can get in on the act, too. Rhubarb custard pie is a seasonal favorite, while a homemadeblackberry ice cream heralds the fruit season to come. Cupcakes frosted with blue and green icing in globe-inspired swirls takes a more decadent approach to Earth Day-themed sweets.

Plants in flower pots in assorted colors

Establish an Earth Day Tradition

Confirm your commitment to the environment with a new family tradition. Let family members flip through a seed catalog to find a favorite or unusual heirloom vegetable they’d like to grow in a pot, backyard raised bed or community garden plot. Take a trip to your local resale shop and have fun scouring the goods for a piece of clothing or a household item that will take the place of a new purchase. Donate fresh produce to or help distribute fresh produce through a local food bank. Exchange small handcrafted gifts made of recycled or foraged materials.

Celebrating Earth Day reminds us of our planet’s extraordinary beauty and incredible resources as well as our collective responsibility to protect our land, oceans and waterways from overuse and pollution. We’d love to see how you recognize this life-affirming day by sending us photos with the hashtag #CrateStyle.

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