MNN - Mother Nature Network

Here are several ideas for Earth Day activities for kids. Enjoy!

 

Egg cup insects: Egg cartons are a major staple in my daughters' craft supplies. They use them to store beads and jewelry, and love turning them into snakes and dinosaurs. This cute craft is one they haven't tried — making ingenious insects from individual egg cups. Even kids as young as 4 or so (old enough to know not to put the googly eyes in their mouth) can handle this one on their own.

 

Treasure keeper frog: My kids love to sort their "collections" of rocks, buttons, bottle caps and beads into little compartments. So they're always fond of little boxes and cases that they can fill up with trinkets. I love this little treasure keeper frog made from a 2-liter soda bottle. I have to admit, I got a little nervous when I saw that the project included a zipper, but they've included a trick to help you and your kids sew it on lickety-split!

 

 

 

3-D globe: This beautiful craft is great for older kids looking to mark the holiday. While this project is geared mostly at kids 9 and up, it can be simplified for younger children as well.

 

 

 

Shoe box habitat: Got a shoe box and a couple of animal toys laying around? Then you have all of the makings for a shoe box habitat. It's a cool project for teaching kids about the habitats of different animals.

 

 

 

Plastic bottle tractor: Of course, we all know that we should carry our reusable bottles with us everywhere so we'll never need to buy water or soft drinks in a plastic 20-ounce bottle. But life happens, and kids get thirsty, and you (like me) may find yourself with several of these bad boys in your recycling bin. Pull one out, along with two of your old, scratched-up CD's or DVD's and you've got yourself this cute eco-tractor.