Earth Day Crafts, Learning Activities, and Projects for Kids

How to Make Recycle, Reduce, Reuse, Green, Upcycle, and Saving Energy Crafts for Earth Day

 

 

Reduce Crafts for Earth Day

 

 

One of the best ways to take care of the earth is to lessen our impact on it. Producing energy to make electricity creates pollution. Children can help reduce pollution and their impact on the earth by reducing the amount of energy they use. One way they can do this is to turn off the lights when they leave a room. This printable door hanger is a great way to remind children to turn off the lights. They can hang it right above their heads, or just low enough to touch their foreheads, so that they will see it when they leave a room and be reminded to turn off the lights.

"Did You turn Off the lights?" Printable Door Hanger - One side says, "Stop! Did you turn off the lights?" and the other side says, " Save Energy! Turn the lights off!"

What you will need: Card Stock (Heavy Paper), Crayons or Markers, Hole Punch, Scissors, Paper Glue, and String

How to Make the Door Hanger:

1. Print out the front pattern and the back pattern and make copies onto card stock. Have your children color the patterns and cut them out.

Member's

Free Instant Download Pattern   

2. Glue them back to back and then punch a hole at the top.

3. Tie a string to the door hanger and tape or tie the sign to a door jamb where your child will see it as he leaves the room.

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Growing your own sprouts for salads and sandwiches is a great way to reduce your impact on the earth. Instead of buying sprouts from the store in plastic containers, you can easily sprout your own seeds at home. There are many methods, but basically all you need is a quart jar, a rubber band and some mesh material, or material that has a loose weave. Cover the seeds with water and soak them overnight in the jar. Drain and rinse them three times a day from four to seven days or until they are ready to eat. Place the sprouts in the light when they get their first small leaves so that they turn green. Then store them in the refrigerator. You can find many healthy recipes using sprouts on the Net. You will also find stores that supply seeds and sprouting jars.

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Dehydrating Food for preservation is a great way to reduce waste. Instead of throwing away excess fruit because you can't eat it all before it goes bad, you can dehydrate it and store it indefinitely. Dehydrating food can save you a lot of money because you can buy fruit when it is cheap in large quantities and dehydrate the excess. Dried fruit makes great snacks and can be used in many recipes. You can buy dehydrators, drying them in your oven will also work. Look for directions and equipment online.

 

 

ReUse or Upcycle Crafts For Earth Day

 

Making old, useless items into new, usable items is what upcycling it all about. Instead of throwing trash away and filling up landfills, children can learn to use those "useless" items in fun and interesting ways. A great way to teach your child about upcycling is to pick one item that you throw away regularly and try to find as many ways as you can to reuse that item around your home. Some items you might want to pick from are plastic milk jugs, aluminum cans, and egg cartons. You can also search online to find other web sites that will give you additional ideas on how to use these items.

 

 

Scissors with a Sharp Point

Low Temperature Glue Gun

Large Googly Eyes or Eyes Printed on Paper

Large Green Pompom for the Nose

 

How to Make Your Own Grocery Bag Caddy:

1. To remove the label from the milk jug fill the jug with hot water and let it stand for a few minutes. Do not get the label wet or it will just fall apart. Carefully peel off the label from all four corners. Then wash and dry the milk jug. To remove the inked numbers color over the numbers with a dry erase marker. The dry erase marker will dissolve the ink so you can wipe it off with a paper towel.

2. Cut a mouth shape on the opposite side of the handle of the jug. (Patterns for the mouth, eyes, and leaves are available to members and as an instant download.

Member's

Instant Download Pattern -  ( Black and White)

 

3. Place the cap on the jug. Spray paint the jug with green spray paint made for plastic, or use a plastic primer spray paint before using regular spray paint. To get rid of the ink numbers on the top of the jug spray a little bit of spray paint on the numbers. The spray paint should dissolve the ink. When you see the ink start to run, wipe off the paint and then spray paint the entire jug. Let the paint dry for about an hour.

4. Cut arm and leg shapes from brown craft foam so that they look a little like the roots of plants. Glue them to the jug with a low temp. glue gun as shown in the picture.

5. Draw eyes on a piece of white paper with a permanent marker and cut them out. Glue them to the jug. Use a green pompom for the nose.

6. To make the leaf hair, cut leaf shapes from green paper. Wind brown or green Chenille stems around the lid of the jug and then glue the leaves to the end of the Chenille stems.

7. Hang your "Green Guy" up in your pantry and stuff him with grocery bags.

Great uses for grocery bags - doggy poop bags, waste basket liners, use as stuffing in packages, etc.

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I just want to take a moment to thank you for the wonderful service you provide through your website, Daniellesplace.com. I have referred to your website for years now, as a Sunday School teacher, and also during the years I homeschooled our two sons. It has been such a blessing to me, and has provided so many solutions for times when I didn’t have any idea of what craft or activity to do. I just wanted you to know that you, and your website, are truly a blessing to many, including myself. Blessings, Lillie 3/1/15

 

 

Make Your Own ReUsable Grocery Bag - Earth Day Project

An even better way to conserve energy and help the environment is to use less. And one way to do this is to make and use your own reusable grocery bags. Children of all ages will love designing them and creating usable art. You can buy the material needed to make them or just buy them already made. Most craft stores carry them.

To Make Your Own Reusable Canvas Grocery Bags:

1. You will need heavy cotton canvas and cotton strapping. If you don't have cotton strapping, you can just sew straps using the cotton canvas.

2. Cut the cotton fabric 32" by 14". Fold the fabric piece in half so that it is 16" x 14". Measure 1 1/2" up from the fold on both side of the fabric. Push the folded end in so that you now have the folded edges at the 1 1/2" lines. The folds are the bottom edges of the bag. The folded material should now measure 14 1/2" x 14". Sew the sides of the bag down to the bottom over the folded part of the material.

3. Measure 20" of strapping for each handle. Fold down the top of the bag 1/2" and then one inch. Place the ends of the strapping inside the fold. and sew the fold down all the way around the top of the bag sewing the strapping as you go.

4. Use permanent Sharpie markers or fabric paint to decorate the bags.

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What you will need: Cotton Canvas Bag, Iron, Pencil, Permanent Markers, Acrylic Paint, or Fabric Paint

How to Make an Earth Day Canvas Bag:

1. Before you start gather everything you will need to iron the bag flat so that there are no wrinkles.

2. Decide on a design and lightly draw the design on the canvas. If you make a mistake you can erase the lines.

3. When you are satisfied with your drawing use permanent markers, acrylic paint, or fabric paint to finish the design.

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Children of all ages will enjoy designing their own outfits and then showing them off in an Earth Day fashion show to celebrate Earth Day.

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How to Make Save the Animals Canvas Bag:

1. Before you start gather everything you will need and iron the bag or T-shirt flat so that there are no wrinkles.

2. Print out the transfer onto T-shirt transfer paper according to the directions on your transfers, and iron the transfer on according to the directions for your transfer paper. You can use the color transfer or the black and white transfer and color in the picture yourself.

Member's

Instant Download Pattern -  (Color and Black and White)

3. Decide on a design you would like to add, if any, and lightly draw the design on the canvas or T-shirt. If you make a mistake, you can erase the lines.

4. When you are satisfied with your drawing use permanent markers, acrylic paint, or fabric paint to finish the design.

5. You can also use tie dye spray to add color or sponge paint shapes onto the shirt.

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Printable stickers are cheep and easy to make. You can have your children draw pictures relating to Earth Day and then scan them into an image editing program, make copies, and print them on sticker paper. Cut them apart and sell them as individual stickers.

These "Save the Animal" Stickers are available to members or as an instant download. Print the sticker patterns on regular-sized paper and use the Creative Station Crafting System to make stickers or use the smaller sticker patterns with the X-treme Sticker Maker.

Member's

Instant Download Pattern -  (2 pages large and smaller stickers)

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How to Make Save the Earth Day Printable Badges:

1. Use clip art or draw your own pictures on circles cut from card stock (heavy paper) or card board you recycle from items you have bought.

Member's

Instant Download Pattern -    (Color and Black and White)

2. Tape safety pins to the back of the circles to make badges. Hand out the badges to help make people more aware of environmental issues or sell them to make money for environmental causes.

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Endangered Species Awareness - Earth Day Projects

 

 

 

 

What you will need:

Dinner-sized Paper Plates, Paint or Crayons, Black Feathers, and a Low Temperature Glue Gun

 

How to Make the California Condor Paper Plate Craft:

1. Print out the wing, head, and feet pattern and use them as templates to cut shapes from a paper plate. Or print out the shapes on to card stock and use them to make the condor.

Member's

Instant Digital Download

2. Fold a paper plate in half and cut on the fold line. Use half the plate for the condor's body. Roll it into a cone shape and staple or glue it together. Fold down the point about 1/2" from the top of the point.

3. Form the head shape into a cone and glue it closed. Cut the slit lines and fold them in so they overlap each other. Glue the slits together to form the top of the head. Glue the head to the folded down point of the large cone. Glue on the wings and feet.

4. Pain the condor and let it dry, and then glue black feathers to the top of the head and around the neck.

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One way to keep our earth and environment healthy is to take care of the animals and plants. Children can help in many ways by providing food, shelter, and safe places for them to live. They can build bird houses, grow plants that provide the food and shelter animals need. Make their own backyard habitat for the animals in their area.

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Fund-raisers are a great way to get children involved in Earth Day projects. Have your children make a list of possible organizations they may want to help, or projects that they may want to help fund. Have them research the organizations they are interested in and find out how they can help.

Once they have decided on a project, they can make others aware of it and ask for donations.

This panda bear collection container is a great way to collect donations for their projects. Children will enjoy trying to help fill the panda bear with coins for Earth Day. A small prize can be given to the person who guesses the total amount collected at the end of the collection day.

Go to the Panda Bear Crafts and Learning Activities Page for directions on how to make this craft.

 

 

Plant a Garden to Attract Wildlife Earth Day Project

Have your children list all the different kinds of animals found in their area and then research what the animals eat. Have them make a list of the different types of food and decide what kinds of plants they can try to grow in their own yards.

Gardening Projects for Kids: Fantastic Ideas for Making Things, Growing Plants and Flowers, and Attracting Wildlife to the Garden, with 60 Practical Projects and 500 Photographs

Earthcare Seeds Butterfly Garden Flower Seeds 1000 Seeds

 

 

 

Children can learn to love and appreciate the earth and everything in it when they get out and explore their surroundings and look for natural items they can use to make new things or create works of art.

 

 

Crafts from Trash Page 1 - Make things from trash such as milk jugs, cardboard boxes, old CD cases, TP rolls, and bottles.

Sock Crafts and Learning Activities - Make sock creatures from old socks.

Milk Jug Crafts and Activities for Kids - Make a milk jug monster sock caddy, milk jug totem pole, and many other fun crafts out of recycled milk jugs.

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Wonderful Earth!

Wonderful Earth is a captivating book about the creation that conveys an awesome respect for God's amazing work. With comical illustrations, fun lift-the-flap pages, and other paper tricks, children will want to read this book over and over again. While it is a great book, the author takes some liberties in telling the story of creation. He doesn't exactly follow the biblical account.

The last part of the book focuses on how man has not taken good care of the earth. Many examples are given of how it is being destroyed, including global warming. The author states that the world is in a terrible mess because "we're spoiling the beautiful place God gave us to live in." His answer at the end of the book is "If we ask 'God' to help us change, maybe . . . just maybe . . . "

 

 

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

The Lorax (Classic Seuss) was published in 1971 following the environmental movement of the 1960s. In this classic Dr. Seuss story the greedy Once-ler discovers that he can make "much desired" Thneeds from the tufts of Truffula trees. He proceeds to cut down the Truffula trees despite the warnings of the Lorax was lives there. The Once-ler becomes rich, but destroys the trees and the local environment in the process. But he is not stupid; he does save a seed from the tree. Being true to his uncaring attitude he doesn't plant it himself, but gives it to a boy to plant and take care of. Even when there is nothing left but a broken down factory, the greedy Lorax manages to make money off the destruction by charging people for information he has on how the place became so desolate.

After reading the story, ask your children what the Once-ler should have done differently. Have companies become more aware of their impact on the environment today?

You can also buy Dr. Seuss' The Lorax movie to go along with the book.

 

 

"Stuff! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" by Steve Cox

Stuff! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Pinch the Packrat learns the value of stuff. He has so much stuff in his house that it was spilling out into the street. His friends decide to have a tag sale in order to make money to buy a tree for the community park. They ask Pinch if he would donate some of his tuff, but Pinch loves his stuff and doesn't want to donate any of it. At the tag sale, he sees how much money he could earn by selling his stuff, so he decides he will sell some of his stuff so he can buy even more stuff. Pinch soon learns that he gets more satisfaction from seeing the other animals playing and enjoying his stuff than he received from owning all that stuff. When he is asked to donate the money he made from the sale to buy a tree, he isn't so sure he wants to do it. He goes home to think about it, and realizes how nice it is to live in a clean, tidy house without stuff everywhere. The next day he decides to sell even more stuff and gets his friends to sell their stuff so that they can buy even more trees.