Create these unique arts & crafts made from things found in nature and use them to transform your room into the great outdoors.
Looking for some creative and imaginative ways to celebrate Earth Day? We’ve put together some fun Earth Day activities for kids that the whole family will enjoy.
To help us out, we’ve teamed up with Melissa with Wispy Feather Farm, who’s going to introduce you to some creative ways to spend the holiday. Melissa is a mother a four who lives in sunny Colorado along with her goats, chickens, dogs and cats.
She’s an expert on homeschooling, homesteading, photography, and all around general mom stuff! Let’s see what she’s cooked up for Earth Day.
Outdoor Art Earth Day Activities
Designing Your Outdoor Scene
If you can’t venture into the great outdoors but still want some fun things to do with your toddlers at home, why not bring a piece of it inside? Check out the list below to see some of the ways you can entertain Earth Day from home!
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Leaf Crown
All you need for this DIY Earth Day activity are leaves and a ball of yarn. Remember, collecting your materials is half the fun.
Head outside with the kids and have them collect their favorite leaves. The sturdier they are, the easier it will be to create the crown.
Once you’ve finished, head back inside and punch a hole through each individual leaf. Thread the string through and tie it off to keep the leaves from shifting.
Once you have enough for a full crown, tie both ends together to complete the job! Have a look at the pictures below to see how it’s done. Oh, and don’t forget to take a picture!
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Dried Flower Hoop Art
For this one you’ll need a craft hoop, plastic needle, dried flowers and a piece of felt. Open up the hoop and place the two pieces on either side of the felt.
Close it up and cut around the edge. Piece some holes through the felt using the needle and place the flowers through. Feel free to sketch out your design before hand or play it by ear! Once you’ve finished, hang your newly created piece of art up on the wall to bring a piece of the outdoors inside.
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Nature Wall Hanging
Grab a few large sticks, leaves, orange slices, pine cones and maybe a few other natural materials and some twine. Group the sticks together and wrap the twine around either end.
Leave some slack in the middle to hang it on the wall. Now that you’re base has been established you can start designing your layout. Tie everything up at your designed lengths and attach to the base. Hang up and enjoy!
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Nature Paint Brushes
What better way to create natural art than by using some all-natural materials! Grab some twigs and nature leaves from outside. Place the leaves towards one end of the stick and tie into place.
Next, trim the leaves down to your desired size. Finally, get ready to create some art with your newly constructed nature paintbrush!
Congratulations! Now that you’ve completed your crafts, you are now ready to start decorating your room into your outdoor scene.
Decorate Your Room
Your bedroom is meant to be the most calming and relaxing room in the house. Here’s a few tips to help get you there…
1) Adding plants will warm up the feel and also helps clean the air.
2) Bring nature items indoors in the form of accessories and decor.
3) Add in some soft textures like soft rugs and chunky throws to cozy it all up.
4) Bring sensory delights in to your space like calm scented candles or freshly cut flowers.
5) Place some twinkle lights around the window to provide a warm glow.
Now that your room is decorated, here are some more Earth Day activities you can do with the family:
Fun Activities for Kids to Try This Earth Day
Make a Fort
Everyone needs a shelter! Create your own cave using pillows, blankets or other materials you find around the house.
You can even decorate the cave with some of your newly constructed nature art or bring in more natural materials from outside to give it more of a rustic feel.
Scavenger Hunt
This Earth Day, send the kids on an eco-friendly scavenger hunt (download the PDF). Feel free to add specifics, especially if you’re a nature lover who’s keen on collecting certain items from outside.
You can also leave room for some more open ended instruction. “Find 5 pink things,” is one idea. “Sketch 4 kinds of flowers” is another. Have fun with it and get creative!
Create a Fairy Kingdom
All you’ll need for this one is a few small succulents or grasses, a container to house them in, and a few fairy figurines and accessories. The first phase of the activity revolves around the planting.
The time this takes depends on the size of your container and the amount of plants you’re planning to use. Once you’re done with this step, bust out the figurines and pepper them into the garden.
Remember, you don’t have to stop with one. You can create an entire kingdom if space permits!
Make a River
Take a large container and fill it with soil, sand or other granular material. Then, we’re going to spruce up your newly created habitat with an extravagant water feature.
All you need is some aluminum foil, rocks, sticks, bark, leaves, and a few plastic bottle caps for boats. Dig a little trench across the box and line it with foil.
Then, you want to pour some water into one end of the river and watch it flow! Have the kids decorate the banks of the river with whatever natural materials they find around the yard. They can also use sticks and bark to create bridges or dams. They can even take turns racing their boats down the river!
DIY Wind Chimes
For this one you’ll need a few cleaned out tin cans, paint, string, a hammer, nails and some metal washes. Glitter and tape might come in handy as well!
Now, let’s get started. Set up a station for the kids to paint their tin cans. If you’re looking for a little extra sparkle, feel free to throw some glitter into the mix!
Once the paint dries, punch a hole into the bottom of each of the tins using a hammer and nail. String a piece of yarn through the holes and tie the washes to the end of the string.
One will be used to hole the yarn in place while the other will be responsible for making that “clanking” sound when it hits the tin can. Remember, different size cans will produce different noises, so feel free to cut some down to get a more diverse collection going.
Once you finish, you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the soothing sound of a wind chime in action!
Painted Rocks
In the mood to make some more art? Assuming you haven’t already built your own rock collection, you’ll want to grab some rocks from outside and treat them as your own personal canvas. You might want to give them a rinse before you start so that the paint will go on more easily. Use colors and get creative!
You can also paint scenes from your favorite stories or incorporate some special quotes. You can even use paint to turn your rock into something else!
Rock dominos, ladybugs and other little critters are a few easy places to start. There’s tons of different activities you can do with rocks on Earth Day!
We hope you enjoyed our list of Earth Day activities for kids! At the end of the day, make sure to gather round for Storytime. Have a look at our selection of stories and storytelling tips. At Great Wolf Lodge, it’s our mission to create great family traditions, one family at a time. Be sure to check in again soon to see what other at-home activities we have in store for you!
