With Earth Day quickly approaching on April 22nd, we wanted to introduce a few ways that children and families can make a difference this year. In most cases, it is easiest for children and families avoid the path that requires a bit more effort but also makes the biggest difference in the longevity of our planet. Learn how you and our child can make a difference this year and many years to come!
Earth Day is always a wonderful day as it focuses on the idea of protecting our planet and leaving it better than when we left it. It is important to love nature and the beauties that earth can offer. This Earth Day, we want to educate our Otter Learning community and help everyone better understand the difference they can make every day to make the Earth a better place.
Here are a few simple ways everyone can make a difference in their own way:
Learn About Recycling: Establish a family tradition to set aside cans, bottles and newspapers that need to be recycled. Remind everyone that recycling means that someone’s trash today can be reused and even someone’s treasure tomorrow!
Clean up Neighborhood Trash: Go on a family walk and bring a grocery bag. Consider making this a weekly tradition to visit a new road or part of town to help with clean up. This is also a perfect opportunity to remind your children to never litter!
Plant a Tree: Consider using Earth Day each year as an opportunity to plant a new tree. This can be a fun tradition for the family and great opportunity for children to see tangible evidence of how your actions are benefiting the earth. You can even plant a cherry or apple tree to reap the benefits and see how the circle of life gives back!
Save Home Energy: During earth day, be sure to emphasize turning off lights after everyone leaves a room and unplugging un-used electronics. You can even dedicate 1 hour during the early evening to turn off all the lights in the house and enjoy nature by candlelight!
Use Less Water: Remind everyone in the family to avoid letting water run for long periods of time. This includes while washing dishes, brushing your teeth or taking a shower. You can even use earth day to set a limit on show times to encourage saving water!
Plant a Garden: Similar to planting a tree each year, you can use Earth day as an opportunity to plan your spring garden and watch as the plants grow!
Produce Less Garbage: Talk about why it is important to use re-usable bags and containers instead of disposable ones. You can even use it as an opportunity to start packing garbage free lunches!
Donate to Charity: While a bit non-traditional for earth day, this is another form of recycling rather than throwing things away
Reuse Projects: A great opportunity to keep children creatively busy with arts and crafts while also emphasizing re-using old items. For example, you can use photos from old magazines to create collages or could make a bird feeder out of plastic soda bottles.
These activities are just the tip of the Earth Day iceberg. You can find many more via a search tool produced by the Earth Day Network.