5 ways to celebrate Earth Day

Raising your child to care about the planet doesn't have to be about grand gestures or complex science experiments; you can help your child foster a passion for nature in a playful, natural and creative way.

Earth Day is the perfect opportunity for a little celebration of our natural world with some themed activities.

Whether you have a toddler who loves splashing in puddles or a passionate 'environmentalist' in primary school, here are 5 ways to celebrate Earth Day - all simple, hands-on activities to celebrate our wonderful blue planet and make some memories in the process.

5 ways to celebrate Earth Day...

1 . Earth rain painting

This is a fun piece of "process art" where the fun is all about the making, rather than the end result (even though in this case it is really pretty!).

You will need:

• Thick card or watercolour paper

• Tea plate, or circular object to draw around

• Pencil

• Blue and green watercolour paints

• Brushes

• A rainy day …and an outdoor surface

Place your plate (or object) on your paper and draw a circle around it in pencil.

Invite your child to paint the Earth using their blue and green paints.

Pop it outside on a rainy day for a couple of minutes and watch the colours blend and travel.

Leave to dry and then admire all the patterns and textures the rain has given your picture!

2 . Planet Earth suncatcher

This is a great craft for making use of clear takeaway containers, lids etc.

You will need:

• Clear lids, or circles cut out from clear containers

• Green and blue Sharpies

• Single hole punch

• Ribbon or string

Draw a picture of the world using your sharpies - my older son did a simple sketch of the Northern Hemisphere, for my younger so it was more abstract.

Punch a hole at the top edge using your hole puncher, create a loop with the ribbon/string and then us it to hang up your decoration by a window.

Because the sharpies are water resistant you could even hang this decoration outdoors!

3 . Ocean clean-up sensory bin

Have fun 'rescuing' sea creatures from the plastic 'pollution' in the ocean

You will need:

• Deep sided tray

• Water

• Blue food colouring

• Pieces of used and cleaned plastic packaging

• Tongs

Full the tray with water, add a couple of drops of food colouring and mix thoroughly.

Add your plastic bits and pieces - if they are very large you can cut them into pieces.

Invite your child to clear up the recycling using tongs, or use scoops for younger children.

4 . Recycled lid match

This is a fun way to recycle all those milk bottle lids!

Grab a black permanent marker and draw a matching image on two lids, repeat until you have a set of images.

Invite your child to match the lids. To make it more tricky for older children, turn all the lids over, so it is more of a memory game.

We have given ours nature-themed pictures to make it perfect for Earth Day!

5 . Loose parts Earth

For this simple but mindful activity, just print out a copy of this planet earth (or draw it)

Then find some blue and green loose parts to decorate it with.

We used buttons that we returned to our collection after - you could also use stickers, beads, playdough, torn paper or gemstones (for example).

Want some more ideas? Visit our Etsy store for loads of Earth Day related printables:

Earth Day is about sparking that little bit of wonder in our children, so whether you try one of these activities, or you plan to just spend the afternoon outdoors, you will be planting the seeds of love for our planet that will grow and grow.

I’d love to hear about your Earth Day adventures in the comments below!

Love learning about Planet Earth? Check out these posts:

Our favourite nature books

Making the most of the outdoors

Wildflower seed bombs

Sprouting seedling craft

 For more playful learning, creative inspiration and crafts, visit us at:

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