Learn with Recylables for Earth Day and Every Day

Earth Day is coming up next month, but any time is a good time to think about our impact on the planet and how we can recycle, upcycle and creatively reuse some of the things we might otherwise consider trash.

Teach Me Mommy has pulled together a great collection of learning activities using recycled materials, including cardboard, egg cartons, paper towel rolls, bottle lids and wipe containers.

You probably have the supplies to make some of these projects right now, or you can start collecting and you’ll soon have lots of materials to make your own fun learning activities out of stuff you might otherwise toss.

How do you like to reuse materials in the classroom or at home? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[Photo: Teach Me Mommy.]

Looking for some books to pair with these crafts? Check these out.

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Celebrate Earth Day with Kids

There are so many fun things to do with fall leaves, which is a good thing because they are everywhere. We have more than a dozen trees in our yard so I would always try to do some leaf crafts when my daughter was younger. We made rubbings and preserved leaves and did a ton of jumping in leaf piles, but if you’re looking for more activities to do with leaves, read on.

If you have a lot of different kinds of trees in your yard, on the playground or at the park, you can make leaf mandalas like these from Red Ted Art. They’re inspired by Andy Goldsworthy, who makes temporary art with natural materials (learn more about him at the link).

Leaves are art all by themselves, but you can make them an even lovelier display by combining leaves with other natural materials in a collage. Or make a little natural weaving loom like this one from Woodlark to hold a bunch of leaves and other fall pretties in a way that can continuously be changed.

Another way to turn leaves into art is by using markers or pens to trace the veins on a leaf. This idea is from Go Science Kids, and it’s a simple thing that makes really pretty leaves to display while also giving you can chance to talk about why leaves have veins and what is happening when leaves change colors.

Kids Craft Room has a great idea for making leaf luminaries, which would be fun to decorate the table from now through Thanksgiving. The best thing about these is that you don’t have to use any glue, so it’s easy for kids to make (with some supervision since cutting is involved).

This one does use glue, but it’s so cute it’s probably worth the potential mess. Our Kid Things shows you how to make an adorable hedgehog with fall leaves using their printable template and a paper plate.

I also love this fall in a bottle project from The Crazy Outdoor Mama. It’s like a snow globe with leaves and has the added cuteness of a kid’s photo inside. This would be a fun one to make at school to give to parents or grandparents, and it’s so easy and cute!

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