Earth Day is a time for us to reflect on the earth. It is a great time to remind our kids how important it is to take care of our planet. It is important that we find some fun ways to show our kids the importance of our planet and how we can help. Here are 3 easy at-home activities that can help teach children about Earth Day.

1. Recycle Sorting

Start by grabbing various small objects from around the house such as paper clips, empty cans, bottle caps, paper scraps, etc. Then create 4 sorting stations: Paper, Plastic, Metal, and Garbage. Have kids take some time to sort all the objects and then talk with them about why certain items went into certain piles. The bigger variety of items you grab to begin with, the greater the challenge it will be for your kids to get everything sorted correctly.

2. Starter Pots for Planting

Now is the perfect time to get some starter pots going! Use toilet paper rolls to start your garden or just to see how things grow. These make great starter pots because once the plant starts growing you can plant it permanently in the ground and the toilet paper roll will decompose over time. To begin, use a tray or pan as the base so all the toilet paper rolls can stand up. Then fill each roll about 1/3 of the way with soil. Next, place a seed or a few seeds (especially if growing grass you will want several seeds) and cover with more soil to about 2/3 full. Remember to water lightly each day. You can use the cardboard as a guide as it doesn’t need to be soaked, but when it starts to show wet spots it is watered enough. Once the plants begin sprouting, you can take each tube outside and plant them in the ground or in a larger pot.

3. Science Experiment: Creating Plastic

Who doesn’t love a good science experiment? And when it helps you learn a little more about the earth, even better! This one uses milk and vinegar to create a plastic like substance that can be molded into a variety of shapes and then colored. Many of the needed ingredients can be found around the house, making this a quick and easy experiment. You will need: 1 cup of milk, 4 tablespoons vinegar, sharpies, cookie cutters, strainer, paper towels.

  1. Put the milk in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 90 seconds.
  2. Mix in the vinegar and stir for 60 seconds.
  3. Pour into a strainer and press out all the milk.
  4. Press a paper towel into the strainer to remove any leftover milk.
  5. Lay out a piece of paper towel and place a cookie cutter on to the towel. Press the mixture into the cookie cutter and let it set for 48 hours (2 days).
  6. Color with sharpies to decorate.

Hopefully these 3 activities will help you explain Earth Day to your children and give them something fun and educational to do at home. Play with a Purpose also has a great Earth Day Printable of the globe that you can give your kinds and let them color or paint it for something else fun to do.