Many of you enjoy making Earth Day crafts, so why not! The topic of conversation is planet Earth, so it’s crucial to have conversations with kids about Earth as a whole. Of course, if you’re dealing with preschoolers, you can just paint a paper plate in earthy colours or have fun with coffee filters in a similar way, but I adore these Earth Crafts! I ask you to refrain from making “Earth Day Slime” unless you use one of our eco-friendly slime recipes. While I recognise that making slime is a fantastic sensory exercise, especially for small hands, the fact that these “Earth Day activities” are so laden with chemicals (borax) and glue (a plastic) gives me the creeps.

Create a headband for Earth Day! And talk about how you can respect the environment. This post includes discussion topic suggestions!

Making balloon earths and suns out of paper mache is a fantastic “childhood classic” project. You may reuse old newspapers, create your own paper mache paste using only flour and water, and utilise environmentally friendly paints on Earth Day. However, I do have a minor complaint: the balloons! It would definitely be a little more environmentally beneficial if you could get latex-free balloons for this creation.

For me, the main focus of Earth Day celebrations should be sustainability. I believe that upcycling and reusing materials that would have otherwise gone to waste is what Earth Day should REALLY be about. To me, it also involves “making do” and refraining from purchasing something you can make do without or creating on your own using a few cunning tactics. Or, to put it another way, buy less and reuse more!

With recycled plastic bottles and items from nature, create a straightforward bug hotel. Make a cosy area where all the creepy crawlies can congregate. Fill two cylinders made from a two-liter plastic bottle with sticks, pine cones, bark, or any other kind of natural material. Be sure to tightly pack the organic material. Then hang your insect hotel from a fence or tree branch by wrapping a piece of string or yarn around the two cylinders.

Create homemade cardboard toys! The awesome cardboard box crafts you can create and play with include these cardboard safari animals (plus the occasional camel). I’ve been making my own toys with the kids for YEARS! And there is no doubt that a handcrafted toy is just as excellent, if not better, than one that was purchased from a store because the children are VESTED during the making of it. They enjoy both creating and playing. Make your own instead of purchasing the newest “thing”! These are some examples of crafts that you can make with cardboard boxes! Our fave items are our “carry along doll house” kit, DIY pirate ships, and doll houses. AVOID BUYING. Make it yours. Also, create your own from.

Similar to this, you can create a TONNE of amazing toys with only toilet paper rolls and other recyclable materials. Although toilet paper rolls can be used to create a variety of narrative props, decorations, and even present boxes, they are most famous for our toilet paper roll marionettes. Make one of these and talk to the students about the advantages of making your own instead of purchasing new!

Naturally, Earth Day doesn’t fall on a holiday. Here I am presenting a Christmas wreath, but what I am really sharing is a principle—that even the smallest component of something may add value. This notion is known as “rag rugging” or “working with rags.” In actuality, the wreath’s crimson flowers’ centres are created from candy wrappers. So fun! Moreover, I have a few rag hearts.

… so you’re not limited to using “leftovers” for wreath-making. It involves creatively blending colours, keeping things interesting, and creating some incredibly adorable Rag Hearts. Working with outdated materials makes “ugly” colour combinations easy to develop. However, you can still create beautiful things if you properly combine your elements!

developing repurposed handbags! As part of a collection of recycled crafts created in the classroom, this owl purse was created. A trouser leg serves as the bag or purse’s main component (cut-off jeans work well here well), and homemade t-shirt yarn is used to make the strap. Although the owl is made of “new” felt, making this 100% recyclable, I believe mixing old and new is OK. You could also use different repurposed fabrics to make the owl if you have greater sewing skills, but that would require more hemming. This activity encourages kids to look past the trash paper.basket. Just because a tshirt has a stain on it and can’t be gifted or sold in a thrifty store, does not mean it is an “end of life” item. Spark their creativity and see what designs they make! They may even wish to add a beautiful planet cut out to the front of the bag!

Create shopping bags out of recycled materials; shirts are a lot of fun, but anything works! Despite the fact that many grocery stores use paper bags for their shopping and that “paper bags” are thought to be environmentally good because they decompose, they nonetheless have an impact on the environment. After all, trees must develop, be felled, and undergo processing before being used to manufacture bags. Similar to how individuals have jumped on the eco-friendly bandwagon, there are now MILLIONS of jute bags on the earth. But once more, jute bags are manufactured for a specific reason and need to be bleached, sewn, and sent. Instead of purchasing them or decorating them with Earth Day slogans, be truly eco-friendly and build your own using materials that will end up in the trash. building a bag.