Family Tips and Tricks for Celebrating Earth Day All Year Round

Teach your children to lessen their impact on the earth,
and make it FUN!

Brought to you by Olympic Climate Action | Olyclimate.org

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With the current Stay-At-Home order due to the Coronavirus, parents house-bound with kids may be looking even harder for projects that are educational, fun, and safe. Here are some activities to start with…and links to sites for more ideas:

Make a game of turning off all unnecessary lights and powering down unused devices

Plant seeds in recycled egg cartons and plastic tubs and watch them grow, or make a terrarium out of a plastic bottle, old goldfish bowl, or big jar

Earth Day bracelets created from TP rolls
All these bracelets start the same. Cut a loop about an inch wide from a TP roll. Cut a slit in the loop so it will fit around a wrist.

• For the star superhero cuff I painted the TP tube. When it was dry I added a star cut from an old art project. 
• The orange wrist communicator was made with a bottle cap held on with a brad/paper fastener. The bottle cap turns like a dial. The rest of the decorations are brads and stickers.
• The striped bracelet was made with washi tape.
• The pink flower bracelet was covered with duck tape. The flower is recycled from old art and held on with a sparkly brad/paper fastener.

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Make a game of turning off all unnecessary lights

Set aside a small piece of back yard or a big pot on the deck for kids to grow something for the family to eat

Plant a tree…even a small one will help the environment

Collect rainwater for the garden with Morning Chores
23 Awesome DIY Rainwater Harvesting Systems You Can Build at Home

Purchase from, and if possible visit, a local farm that’s selling their produce:
Local Food Directory — Washington State University Extension

Decide as a family what you can cook from what is in the cupboard.
Try some simple kid-friendly recipes:

Make a Mask or Animal Drawing

• Research and draw pictures of endangered species or local animals—from land, seawater, and air.
• Make a simple paper mask of the animal you picked.
• What kinds of animals, birds, insects, and fish can be found near your home? Research together online.
• Make a simple paper mask of the animal you picked, or a drawing for your window.
• Get your neighbors to make similar drawings and then take a walk to look at them all in their windows, while you wear yours!

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Research: How is the life in our own harbor endangered threatened by pollution?
Cleanup in Port Angeles Harbor — Dept. of Ecology WA

Make a plan as a family to help on a future beach cleanup day.

• What is your family’s favorite local beach?
• For now, go out with gloves and a bag and pick up trash in your own yard or somewhere where it’s safe to do so.
• Talk about how trash might hurt wildlife.

Make a plan to take the kids to donate and shop at a resale store.
Gather old toys at home and put them into a box to donate to kids who don’t have toys. Or discover some games you haven’t played for a long time and play as a family, rather than buying new ones.

Set a good-parent example for using the proper recycling receptacle.

• Do you have a separate container for glass recycling?
• Make a treasure hunt to find each type of item in the guide
• Putting the wrong item in your recycle bin can ruin the whole batch!
• What You can Recycle — City of Port Angeles

Make a bin or box for craft projects, collecting colored paper and pictures from around the house and from the mail—Make cards and gifts instead of buying them

Make a plan to plant a tree…even a small one will help the environment

Make your own cloth napkins…recycle fabric with raw or hand-sewn edges if you don’t have a sewing machine.

Repair or re-purpose some items rather than discarding them:
Sewing Projects and Re-purposing — Pinterest

Check the kids’ activities at NASA Climate Kids or climatekids.org
Make it FUN!

Join the Endangered Species project and see these
Endangered Species Projects and Lessons for Kids