Create Craft
20 Easy Earth Day Crafts for Kids of All Ages, Using Recycled Materials
Celebrate going green and honor the planet with these fun and sustainable DIY projects.
The key is to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
What stage of craft proficiency do your children have? Can they produce the item you want them to make?
Where will you put these projects on display? I hope they don’t just end up in the garbage.
What message do you wish to convey with these crafts?
Consider all that this planet has provided you and your family as you participate in all of your Earth Day activities and crafts. Additionally, throughout each creation, urge your children to recycle, reuse, and decrease waste – not just on Earth Day, but every day of the year. Here is a collection of 26 of our favourite Earth Day DIY ideas to get you started.
1.Cardboard Tube Sea Creature Mobile
Jodi Levine of Super Make It! says her favorite material to craft with is actually toilet paper tubes. She specializes in use-what-you-have crafts, like this adorable sea creature mobile, that utilize pantry, recycling bin, and supermarket materials.
“Dreaming up uses for items otherwise destined for a landfill is my favorite challenge. Not only are they cheap and plentiful, but transforming them helps us retain the childlike skill to identify the potential in things,” she says.
Get the Cardboard Tube Sea Creatures tutorial at Super Make It! and check out Jodi’s Toilet Tube Treasury ebook here.
2.DIY Desktop Organizer
Creating Joyfully
And this craft wins the prize for coolest desk organiser. This useful work of art may be made for you from leftover cardboard tubes from products like toilet paper, paper towels, and gift wrap. The only item you will likely need to purchase is a wood tree trunk slice, but other than that, you can find everything else in your home to fit the Earth Day theme. Use what you already have: paint, as well as colourful and pattern-filled paper fragments.
Learn how to make a DIY desktop organiser at Crafting Cheerfully.
3.Earth Day Painting
An additional simple craft is an earth painting. Simply cut a blank piece of white paper into a circle, pick a larger square of cardstock or construction paper in any colour, and glue on top of that. Consider exhibiting this image to your younger children so they can attempt to replicate the proportions using their own painting talents.
4. Earth Day Print Card
A simple card to celebrate the cause is one of the sweetest and easiest crafts you can make with kids of all ages. Instead of painting directly on the page, you’ll learn how to make this sort of imprint using a fun technique.
Get the Earth Day Print Card tutorial at Mother of Grom.
5.Upcycled Candy Jar with Bird and Tree Design
Have an artist in the family? This simple craft calls for drawing and painting a beautiful scene on a jar that you can then use for holding little knick-knacks or candy. You’ll need an empty, clear jar, some special paint, and art skills. You can also do this craft again for any holiday or theme of your choosing.
Get the Upcycled Candy Jar with Bird and Tree tutorial at Craf
6.Cork Love Bugs
These love bugs are simple to construct and require few resources, making them another imaginative use for your used wine corks. The same lesson may be used to create bees with wings that are yellow and black.
Visit No Time for Flashcards to get the Cork Love Bugs instruction.
7.Wine Cork Foam Stamps
Have you been preserving each and every wine cork? Finally, you may put them to use. You and your kids can create some adorably adorable stamps. These recycled wine cork stamps may be made using just glue, paint, and foam stickers.
Visit Craftic to get the wine cork foam stamps instruction.
8.Cardboard Toy Car
You can own this automobile craft! An empty cracker box, paintbrushes, popsicle sticks, low-temp adhesive, craft paint, scrap cardboard, and paint pens are required. Pre-cut the cardboard if you have young children so all you have to do is paint. The best part is that you will use things you already own.
Visit Lovely Indeed to access the Cardboard Toy Car instruction.
9.Felt Fishing Game
10.Egg Carton School Bus
How fun is this? Making toys out of recycled materials is the best way to show little ones what Earth Day is all about. For this one, all you’ll need is an old egg carton, used bottle caps, skewers and straws to make the wheels turn, and some paint. Use little people figurines you already have, or make those too, with wine corks and pom-poms or large wooden beads.
Get the School Bus Craft tutorial at 7 Days of Play.
11.Cardboard Earth Collage
You only need cardboard, small pieces of blue and green paper, adhesive paper for your border, markers, tape, a bowl to trace with, and a craft knife to make your circle. You might also wish to outline the continents for your child to fill in with corresponding green and blue pieces of paper to create a beautiful Earth.
Visit 7 Days of Play to download the Earth Collage instruction.
12.Upcycled Fun Face Planters
Give those empty cans a new lease on life as planters rather than throwing them in the recycling. Start by removing the labels from your recyclables. Paint (spray paint works well), tape, and planting can then be done. You might try making cute faces like the photo’s DIYer did, or you can create interesting shapes and patterns.
Visit Project Kid to access the tutorial for Upcycled Fun Face Planters.
13.Sea Glass Suncatcher
This suncatcher may be made by anyone using only three supplies and PVA glue. Find some twine, some sea glass, and an empty lid. For the Earth Day theme, it would be even better if your sea glass was blue and green. It can be hung from a window to reflect lovely light.
Visit Mother of Grom for the Sea Glass Suncatcher tutorial.
14.DIY Water Bottle Vase and Coffee Filter Flowers
Have coffee filters and an empty plastic water bottle on available. Kids of all ages will enjoy making this floral arrangement out of a recycled vase. Once dried, the youngsters can use markers to create a watercolour impression by slightly wetting the filters. Draw a sign that reads “we heart Earth” (or any other statement) on poster board to emphasise the event.
Visit Rae Elizabeth Design to get the DIY Vase with Flowers instruction.
15.Milk Carton Vases
Earth Day crafts can be useful, too! These beautiful vases are made out of milk cartons. You’ll need spray paint, raffia, and some beautiful beads to create. While this craft is not ideal for toddlers because of the small beads, a child over five can totally do these with adult supervision. Don’t forget the flowers!
Get the Milk Carton Vase tutorial at Gina Tepper.
16.Sorting Seasons Activity with Stones and Rocks
The idea of seasons is one that should be taught to children on Earth Day (and at any other time of the year, for that matter). To transform your rocks into items that remind you of each season, you’ll need four wooden slices (one each for winter, spring, summer, and fall), paint, rocks, and some pieces of paper. You can instruct your child to put the rocks together on the wood slices after you’ve decorated them.
Visit Buggy and Buddy to access the Sorting Seasons Activity with Stones and Rocks guide.
17.Nest and Baby Bird Craft
Together with your beautiful preschooler, create these sweet birds. While making these adorable feathered creatures and their nesting environment, you may educate your child about them. This project can require some supplies purchases, but it will be well worth it for the cuteness.
Visit Buggy and Buddy to download the Nest and Baby Bird lesson.
18.Printable Trash Can Labels
Setting up your garbage station is one of the simplest activities you can complete for Earth Day, whether with children or without. Create a system of sorting to help the Earth. These fashionable printable trash can labels will educate your entire family about the value of sustainability.
Visit Lia Griffith to purchase the printable trash can labels.
19.Cupcake Liner Daisy
It’s quite simple to make this gorgeous floral craft. The only materials required are white cupcake liners for the petals, green cardstock or construction paper for the leaves, and blue cardstock or construction paper for the stems. The globe is created using the printable Earth template from the link below. It just has to be coloured with crayons, markers, or coloured pencils by your little craftsman.
Visit Buggy and Buddy to get the Cupcake Liner Daisy lesson.
20.DIY Safari Binoculars
It’s crucial to teach children about animals on Earth Day and beyond. Inform your children about the safari, the creatures that reside there, and the significance of supporting programmes that maintain healthy animal populations. To make your teaching moment come to life during your next trip to the zoo, you may even bring this set of binoculars that you made out of animal print paper, used toilet paper or gift wrap tubes, and string.
Get the DIY instructions for safari binoculars at Crafting Cheerfully.