Crafty Mom: Easy Earth Day crafts

Earth Day is one of those holidays where you can really teach your child something important. I use Earth Day to show my children how to be socially conscious of the environment and to respect the planet.

We do many Earth Day crafts using recyclable materials. Here are two of our favorites:

We made these last year. Cut out a door and windows into a plastic water jug and then add a stick or wooden rod through the middle as a perch.

We got wooden window frames from the craft store and glued them on using hot glue. We made sure that they were secure so that they would not come loose and the birds would not be able to get at the glue.

To hang them, use a hole punch or scissors to make a hole in the top of the jug and then pull string through.

They have been hanging on a tree in our back yard for a year now and we see many birds on them. We have even added food in the bottom during the winter.

I love this project. And, to be honest, we do it for nearly every holiday. We just use different colors and themes. The materials, however, are always the same.

You will need one cardboard egg carton, paint, pipe cleaners and a wooden wreath.

To make the litter bugs, cut the egg carton up into individual pieces. Or, for a larger bug, do some that are bigger then one egg cup. For instance we did an earthworm using the length of four. Have your children paint the egg carton pieces. Then make the legs and antennae by putting the pipe cleaners through the egg carton by pushing them through or using a hole punch or scissors.

After you make the bugs, attach them to the wreath again using the pipe cleaners or string. We usually place a wooden sign in the middle of the wreath to recognize whatever holiday we're celebrating.

This year, we also made an Earth Day game using magnets attached to the homemade egg carton “litter bugs." You can make these using Popsicle sticks or bugs.

Attach a magnet to the bottom of the bug and make your children “Planet Saving Weapons” by attaching a magnet to the end of a stick.

After you make the bugs and the sticks, scatter the “Litter Bugs” around your yard and assign points to them. When your children pick them up, add up the points they’ve earned.

My kids loved this! And it taught them a thing or two about cleaning up the environment.