Earth Week Resources
Earth Day is April 22
Getting kids involved in taking care of the planet when they’re young encourages them to continue the tradition as they get older. Teaching them to be good stewards of the earth encourages them to love and respect their planet and nature. There are so many amazing ways you can celebrate this day with your kids and family while being conscious of your carbon footprint.
(taken from RunWildWithMyChild.com)
NATURE SCAVENGER HUNT
Make a list of things found in nature around your home, neighborhood or a local park.
Then go out for a walk or hike with the family and see how many items you can find. In order to save paper, you could make the list on your phone or tablet.
Mystery Science Mini-Lesson Video
Mini-Lesson: How old is the Earth?
There is a Bonus Section that features the top 5 reuses of plastic and some fun inspiration for reusing plastic at home.
This link is for TEACHERS.
If you would like to assign this to students, go into your teacher account and click the STUDENT LINK or the new GOOGLE CLASSROOM link in the left hand corner to assign the video to your students.
https://mysteryscience.com/mini-lessons/old-earth?loc=mini-lesson-button#slide-id-8308
Make Bird Feeders
There are TONS of ways to DIY a bird feeder using recycled materials. Try making bird feeders using recycled toilet paper tubes, popsicle sticks, and even pine cones!
Check out https://runwildmychild.com/easy-bird-feeders-with-kids/ for bird feeder ideas using materials you already have at home!
Family Bike Ride or Hike
Make Earth Art
Making art from natural materials is so much fun to create. You can use any kind of materials you find in nature to create a masterpiece on the ground.
Examples: shells, sticks, rocks, leaves, flowers, petals, nuts and sand
Learn to Recycle Right
Learn to Recycle Right - Information from SWACO
Take some time to teach your family about the importance of recycling – and recycling the right way. All of central Ohio’s residential and business waste – referred to as municipal waste – ends up in the Franklin County Sanitary Landfill. But the landfill doesn’t have an endless capacity. So the more waste we can divert from the landfill, the longer it will be available to serve our community.
Recycling is an easy and convenient way to divert waste from the landfill.
Franklin County’s recycling program accepts paper, cardboard, cartons, metal cans, glass bottles and jars, and plastic bottles and jugs that are wider at the bottom than they are at the top.
If you try to recycle other material – like yogurt cups and clamshell containers – then everything in your recycling bin may end up in the garbage, even if it’s actually recyclable.
You can learn to recycle right by:
- Visiting RecycleRight.org. This website has lots of information about recycling, including answers to common questions, a quiz to test your knowledge, and a search tool to help you find places that accept hard-to-recycle items.
- Playing the “Recycle Right” game with your family. Ask them whether or not specific items in your home are recyclable and explain why or why not.
- Visit the SWACO website for downloadable activity pages and lesson plans for kids
Arts & Crafts Ideas (from SWACO)
Have Fun With Arts and Crafts
There are so many fun crafts that can be made by re-purposing common household items that would otherwise go into the trash.
Join your kids in making trash-to-treasure projects.
- Turn soup and coffee cans into decorative flowerpots
- Make jewelry using beads made of paper
- Make treasure chests out of clamshell containers
- Turn a tissue box into a desk organizer
- Paint wooden crates to make artsy cubbies
- Turn potato chip tubes into piggy banks
- Refinish an old piece of furniture using colorful paint and accessories.
Share your #EarthDay2020 activities with us on social media too!
Websites for ideas:
STEM
Bee Hotel STEM Activity
Pelican STEM Activity
Butterfly STEM Activity
For upper elementary and middle school students - check out the Plants in Space Challenge
Ideas from Spruce Run
- watch the YouTube Video: Ranger Granger - Bird Sounds (1:09 min)
- Teachers can join Epic for free to have access to children's literature. If you have joined Epic, type WOODPECKERS in the search bar for book ideas. https://www.getepic.com/