Earth Day crafts are the perfect time to show kids how easy it is to reuse and recycle so that they can protect the planet. With images of Earth, trees and small handprints joined together in an eco-friendly mission, these crafts are heartwarming, knowing that this newest generation will be the ones to inherit the Earth the way that today’s adults leave it. Using items that might otherwise be thrown away in order to create beautiful works of art, these Earth Day DIY craft ideas are a beautiful reminder of a green way of living.
Kids can draw the oceans and continents on a coffee filter using green and blue markers to create their own version of what they think that the world looks like from above. Spraying the filter lightly with water creates a soft, watercolor effect.
Old newspaper and a paste made from flour and water are the ingredients to make stunning paper mache globes representing the Earth. These eco-friendly craft supplies are easy for kids to play with. Punch small holes to look like stars across the sky and light up the globe from inside with an LED candle or other small light.
Recycled egg carton cups can be cut apart, painted and pasted to a sheet of paper to resemble the leaves on a tree. Draw on a base, or cut a tree trunk out of a flat piece of recycled cardboard, for a recycled image of nature.
Small scraps of tissue paper, such as the wrinkled sheets from a gift bag, make the ideal ingredients for an Earth suncatcher to hang in the window. With the warmth of the sun shining through the tissue paper, it will resemble stained glass.
Ideal for a classroom setting, create a representation of the Earth using kids’ fingerprints. Draw a large circle on a wall display, and let kids paint their fingertips with non-toxic blue and green paints to create an image of the globe.
Recycled newspaper makes the perfect backdrop for this kid-friendly craft ideal for young ones. With palms covered in non-toxic paint, kids can make hand prints that form a heart in between. Then, color in a picture of the Earth in the shape of a heart, so that it looks like a child’s hands are holding the planet.
Scraps of construction paper leftover from other craft projects can be used to make paper that’s embedded with seeds, with this tutorial from Modern Parents Messy Kids. Form the seed paper into a globe using a cookie cutter for a cute addition to the garden after Earth Day.
White t-shirts make the perfect backdrop for a Earth Day tree crafting project. Paint a tree trunk using non-toxic paints on the front of a t-shirt. Let kids dip their hands in green paint and create “branches” on top of the tree trunk. It’s a wearable reminder of their mission to protect the Earth.
Have other projects you’d like to share with our readers? Share your comments with us!
Feature image courtesy of Mary Anne Enriquez