Create Craft
Recycling is the best way we know to commemorate Earth Day, and these kid-friendly crafts prove it! Making one of these exquisite crafts doesn’t require you to purchase any more items. Simple materials like paint, glue, and scissors let children and adults alike contribute to environmental conservation.
Empty your recycling bin to acquire materials for these enjoyable Earth Day kid activities. Reusing materials for crafting is a treasure trove that includes glass, plastic, cardboard, and packaging. These simple kid projects offer some inspiration to get you started, whether you’re upcycling T-shirts into totes or taking a pile of cardboard boxes to new heights.
See our At-Home Activities Guide for Families for more projects, games, recipes, and internet entertainment.
1. Paper Roll Stampers
These homemade stamps are one of our best kid-friendly projects, and they’re the ideal size for young preschoolers’ hands to grasp. Observe your child as they produce stunning abstract artwork. Simple forms like hearts, squares, and triangles can be easily formed out of paper rolls, or you can cut them into whimsical flowers using scissors.
2. No-Sew T-shirt Tote
This Earth Day action aims to reduce the estimated 3.8 billion pounds of textile waste that are currently filling up landfills across the United States. With a few small scissors cuts, you can transform those old T-shirts into one of these practical totes rather than throwing them out. Ideal for lowering the usage of plastic bags as well!
3. Recycled Crayons
It’s an enjoyable STEAM project for children of all ages. Gather all of those crayon stubs, remove the wrapping, then liquefy them to create fresh crayons. You can combine all of your stubs to make a custom blend, or you can sort them by colour.
4. Bubble Wrap Printing
Consider making a simple craft out of all that lovely bubble wrap before throwing it away. A unique take on finger painting is provided by Bubble Wrap Printing. Use some green and blue paint to create an extremely fashionable Earth Day craft.
5. Egg Carton Flowers
Egg cartons can be effortlessly transformed into a dozen red roses or a combination of tulips and daffodils with a quick cut of the scissors. Kids may easily construct egg carton flowers with just a few simple items. We enjoy crafting a few distinct varieties of flowers to craft these exquisite floral wreaths.
6. Plastic Bottle Flowers
We make an effort to use less plastic bottles each day, but at the end of the month, I still manage to accumulate a sizable collection. Use your waste materials creatively to create a handful of these flowers made from plastic bottles. These unusual blooms can be made into a whole chain to be used as decorations on Earth Day.
7. Cardboard Disc Sculptures
You have my challenge to come up with a better, free project than this days-long, open-ended painting exercise! Make Cardboard Disc Sculptures by reusing the cardboard boxes in your recycling bin. This is ideal for the child who enjoys spending hours building. Using just a cardboard box and a pair of scissors, create these cardboard discs as an inexpensive alternative to expensive, store-bought building toys.
8. Recycled Paper Beads
Paper scraps are common in my home because of schoolwork, magazines, junk mail, and creative hobbies. Gather those leftovers and transform them into these exquisite recycled beads.
9. Tissue Box Feet
If the tissue box—or the shoe, in this case—fits! The ideal project to encourage hours of imaginative play is Tissue Box Feet. All you need to get started is a pair of tissue boxes, regardless of whether you want to create the shoes of a monster, dinosaur, or other fanciful creature.
10. Toilet Paper Roll Flower Art
It’s not always easy to turn trash into wall-hanging art, but this Toilet Paper Roll Flower Wall Art succeeds in doing just that. Tweens and teens will love using a glue gun to make intricate designs—it’s the ideal “big kid” project.
11. Tin Can Planters
You can make a gorgeous herb garden on your windowsill by adding a few of these adorable tin can planters. Recycled tin cans can be cleaned out and then embellished with paint, washi tape, or even a layer of chalk paint. The options are unlimited.
12. Clothespin Trivets
We adore how this craft repurposes used clothespins by turning them into a practical kitchen trivet. For home cooks, clothespin trivets are the ideal handmade present.