Print a Scavenger Hunt for Earth Day

When kids are very young the best thing you can do to celebrate Earth Day might be to make sure they spend some time outdoors exploring the natural world around them and learning a little bit about what they can do to protect the planet (like picking up trash, turning off lights, etc.).

I love the idea of doing an Earth Day scavenger hunt in nature, which is easy with this printable and other ideas from Mom on the Side.

Her scavenger hunt is pretty simple, but of course you can use any nature scavenger hunt you like (here are links to a bunch), or write one up with your child.

Remember to only observe these items, or if you take them home to make rubbings or use in other ways, return them to nature when you are done. Or give your child a camera and let them take pictures of the things they find. Never to early to learn “take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints.”

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

[Photo: Mom on the Side.]

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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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