What is Earth Day
Posted by Spotty Otter on 18th Apr 2023
What is Earth Day?
What is Earth Day is and how did it got started? Earth Day is an annual event celebrated around the world on April 22 to demonstrate support for the protection of the environment. Earth Day started in 1970 in America as a way to focus people’s attention on environmental issues. In 1990 Earth Day went global, and today billions of people around the world participate in support of the protection of our Earth. Together, let’s help look after our planet!
How To Celebrate Earth Day
Are you wondering what things you can do for Earth Day with your kids? Earth Day is the perfect time to introduce concepts such as recycling, pollution, planting and composting with kids. We have some simple hands-on and fun activities to help you get started and to celebrate Earth Day at home or at school. Even the little ones can get involved and learn how to help our planet! Earth Day is easy to celebrate at home or in the classroom, with fun and easy learning activities, experiments, and arts and crafts that you can use anytime. From simple bug hotels to homemade seed bombs to pollution discussions, these Earth Day projects are excellent for teaching kids about the conservation and protection of our planet. The great part about our Earth Day activities is that you can use what you already have.
How Kids Can Help Care For The Environment
Here is a list of great questions to ask kids when preparing for Earth Day. Asking questions without giving the answer is a great way to find out what kids already know and their thoughts and feelings.
Try these simple questions to start:
- What can you recycle?
- What can you do around the house to conserve energy?
- What do plants do for the Earth and us?
- Why shouldn’t we litter, and what is littering?
- Why don’t we dump rubbish in the ocean?
- What can we make from old or recyclable items?
Five fun and easy Earth Day activities
1- Connect with nature
Wouldn't it be fun to take a walk through a local park? The first and best way to celebrate Earth Day is getting outside and exploring nature.
As they explore, kids can birdwatch and observe wildlife in natural habitats found throughout city parks, the beautiful british countryside or your own garden. There are countless ways to show kids how nature wakes up. In the spring, newly forming buds appear on trees. Birds chirp more often as the weather warms up. As they observe nature, kids just might develop a love for nature and our planet. As you walk, be sure to remind your kids about the golden rule of nature exploring: “Take only pictures, leave only footprints.”
2- Make birdseed hangers
Celebrate Earth Day and feed the birds with the help of birdseed ornaments made from supplies you can find in the kitchen! Great for kids of all ages, birdseed ornaments give feathered friends a snack and let kids see the birds that come to visit when you hang them outside.
What you need:
- Straw
- Twine
- Birdseed
- Golden syrup
- Cookie cutters
- Baking paper
- 2 packets of gelatin
- Cold and boiling water
What to do:
- Mix the gelatin with ½ cup of cold water until it dissolves the powder.
- Have an adult add ½ cup of boiling water to the gelatin so it dissolves.
- Add 2 tablespoons of golden syrup and mix well.
- Add birdseed to the gelatin mixture.
- Spoon the birdseed mixture into cookie cutters and use baking paper to pat the seeds into the cookie cutter.
- Keep filling and pressing down the birdseed mixture. Be sure to leave a hole to thread twine through the decoration.
- Place the filled cookie cutters in the fridge overnight.
- The next day, give the birdseed decorations a gentle push to let them fall out of the cookie-cutter mold. Pull twine through the holes and hang them outside foe the birds to enjoy.
3- Build an insect hotel
Your kids can build a hotel for bugs using basic materials you’ll find around the home or garden — and recycle some rubbish in the process!
What you need:
- Tree bark
- moss
- Pinecones
- A large plastic bottle
- Fallen sticks and twigs
- Any other earthly elements your kids may want to add
What to do:
- Cut the bottle into two pieces to form separated cylinders. Remove the top and bottom pieces, as we will not be using them.
- Push holes in the top of the bottle pieces and thread twine to hang when the hotel is completed.
- Put twigs, branches and pine cone pieces inside each bottle, stuff the moss in the gaps. You may need to snap the twigs to shorten them. Fill the bottles.
Hang outside to allow bugs to enjoy their new home.
4- Learn how to compost
Be sure to help your kids develop good environmental habits like composting. They’ll learn how to reuse plant waste and make gardens abundant and healthy.
What you need:
- Soil
- An old rug
- Compost bin with lid
- Plant waste such as leaves and weeds
- Kitchen waste from fruits and vegetables
What to do:
- Put the bin outdoors on top of soil under the sun. Top up with kitchen waste.
- Kitchen waste with a layer of soil.
- Cover with a lid and the old rug.
- Continue to add kitchen waste to the compost.
From time to time, be sure to turn over the compost with a shovel as it decomposes.
5- Make an Earth Day promise
Kids love to draw and doodle, put those talents to good use by creating an Earth Day promise.
Make a list of the things kids would like to do to maintain the health of our environment:
- Plant trees
- Go paperless
- Turn off lights that don't need to be on
- Use bags for life instead of plastic ones
- Try shampoo bars instead of the bottled
- Make cleaning products using lemon and vinegar
- Stick to the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
- Lower your carbon footprint by reducing trash output
- Spend more time outside than playing video games indoors
- Use energy-efficient LED bulbs -- they last much longer than traditional bulbs
Or anything else you can think of!
Feed kids' imagination with a shortlist of ideas they can use today for their Earth Day promise!