Children and Earth Day are a natural combination with their sense of wonder and excitement, as well as their boundless energy. This is the perfect time to get kids involved in Earth Day activities like art projects, music, and an appreciation of the land we live on.
So, how to you introduce the importance of eco-friendly practices to youngsters? Try the following projects for Earth Day, April 22:
- Teach them to save recyclables for arts and crafts projects, rather than buying new. Plastic bottles, caps, cans, toilet paper and paper towel rolls, magazines, ribbon, the sky's the limit. Then, together transform them into something fun or useful. Parents magazine suggests turning a milk jug into a bird feeder or a flower pot.
- Plant something. Preschoolers will have great fun digging in the dirt to plant seeds that will grow into fruits, vegetables, and beautiful flowers. They’ll also learn responsibility through weeding and watering, and make the connection between food and the environment, adds Parent.
- Send kids on an outdoor scavenger hunt for item like pine cones, leaves, flowers, rocks and sticks. Add recyclable items to you list, such as plastics, cans or paper cups, says Parent. Talk about how the natural items benefit the environment and how the manmade items can harm it. Help them make a craft with the natural items they have collected.
- Teach preschoolers how to sort recyclables, then take them to a recycling center so that they can see where recyclables go to be turned into new items.
- Try a sensory activity. In a large tray, place colored shaving cream in the pattern of the earth, using green for land masses and blue for oceans. Let children place plastic animals to show which live on land and which live in the water, or both, suggests Pre-K Pages. Talk about different ways to preserve the earth.
Kiddie Campus Preschool : 1407 Cannonball Trail : Yorkville, Illinois 60560 : 630-553-2440 : www.kiddiecampusdaycare.com