These Earth Day activities for the family are a great way to work together in celebrating the beauty of the Earth! This year, it’s time for your family to come together and give these family-friendly activities a try!
Working together on Earth Day activities for the family will create lasting memories as well as fostering good stewardship in the youngest members. Here are ten ideas for family projects that are not only fun but are also helpful to the earth.
10 Earth Day Activities for the Entire Family to Enjoy
Create A Butterfly Garden
Create a flower garden to attract butterflies and spend hours watching them flit from bloom to bloom. Some of the flowers butterflies like are butterfly bushes, yarrow, asters, chrysanthemums, lilacs, coneflowers, sweet peas, and gloriosa daisies.
Create A Habitat For Local Wildlife
Every year more and more new homes are built and there is less and less wild habitat for the local wildlife to live in. Dead trees give a home to insects, which draw woodpeckers as well as owls and other creatures that like a dead tree to build in. Tall grasses are perfect for ground building birds and other animals to hide and live in.
Allow a part of your property to become a habitat for them by leaving it alone and allowing nature to take its own course of action. All you have to do is add a source of water and maybe a few bat, bird and butterfly houses. Filling suet feeders for the birds helps them survive the cold winters.
Clean Up Your Street
Take the family for a walk down the street and carry bags and gloves so you can pick up any litter you see. Have one bag for paper, one for glass and one for aluminum. If there is a house with old appliances or cars parked in the yard, offer to help haul them away to the proper site for disposal.
Offer to rake leaves, cut grass, and prune trees in the yards of the elderly who may be living on a fixed income that doesn’t allow for yard work. Even if you live in a low rent area, you can do something to improve the street you live on and ask neighbors to help.
Have A Community Yard Sale
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure and April is the perfect month for a yard sale, not too hot and not too cold. Get with your neighbors and plan a community yard sale of all the things you no longer need. Make posters and flyers to advertise and put one in the newspaper too.
Make New Paper From Old Paper
Choose a nice sunny day and get the whole family involved in making paper. It may be a little messy, but the results are just beautiful and can be used as stationary, greeting cards, mats, gift-wrap and many other uses. Learn how to make paper here.
Make The One Bag Pledge
Talk to your family about the state of landfills and things that you as a family can do to help the situation. Allow each person to volunteer what they are willing to give up to help and then have the whole family make a pledge to keep the family trash down to one bag a week.
Make A Compost Bin
Making a compost pile is simple and the whole family can be involved. Explain to each family member how it works and then take turns adding leaves, grass clippings, garden waste, kitchen waste, and old cotton and wool clothing to the pile. Turn the pile weekly, together and when it turns into black gold, transfer it to the flowerbeds or garden.
Plant A Backyard Garden
Kids love to dig in the dirt and when they are small, they absorb information like a sponge. Allow each family member to choose what they want to grow and have everyone pitch in to plant, weed, water and gather the garden fruits.
Build A Birdhouse
Build a birdhouse for your backyard and learn about the different birds that live in your area. Do some research and learn what plants and seeds the different birds like best. Make a chart with the names of local birds and each time you see one, mark it on the chart. See who can see the most kinds of birds in a day.
Make A Planet Earth Pinata
Using a balloon, paper mache paste and recycled newspaper create a Planet Earth pinata. Paint the landmasses in green and the oceans blue. You can find directions here for making a pinata. Then have an Earth Day celebration in your own little piece of planet earth and serve only foods grown and produced within a hundred miles of your home.
There you have it, ten ideas for Earth Day activities for the family to do together. Parents should always remember that children learn by imitating them and if the children see that their parents are committed to helping renew the earth, they will be also.
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