Skip to main content

7 fun Earth Day activities for kids you can do at home

Earth Day presents a great opportunity for the whole family to brainstorm ideas to celebrate our beautiful planet and to think of ways to promote environmental awareness. We have come up with several activities for kids to engage their interest in nature and take care of the environment.

Make a PSA video about protecting the environment

Depending on your comfort level with social media, you can round up the kids and make a public service announcement (PSA) video to post on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, or whichever platform you prefer. If your children are old enough, they can create the script about saving Earth and stopping climate change. Here are some possible topics:

Related Videos
  • Turning off the lights before you leave a room
  • Turning off the water while brushing your teeth
  • Recycling
  • Not littering

You can also help them to research any other topic related to environmental awareness or climate change, and they can present their message to the masses. Bonus activity: Save the bloopers to watch later.

Take a virtual tour of a national park

Who says you have to leave the house when deciding what to do with kids on Earth Day? If you have internet access, the whole family can enjoy a virtual tour of one of the many national parks. Travel restrictions, lack of time, or weather conditions won’t stand in the way of the beauty and wonder of nature.

All you have to do is visit Google Arts & Culture and check out the virtual tours of these five parks:

  • Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico
  • Dry Tortugas, Florida
  • Kenai Fjords, Alaska
  • Hawaii Volcanoes, Hawaii
  • Bryce Canyon, Utah

Aside from learning more about these habitats, you’re also saving on gas and the ozone layer by not having to drive a long distance to them.

Start a compost pile

Learning about reducing waste in general and working on the yard are ideal Earth Day activities for kids. And that includes starting a compost pile in the backyard. This project would involve multiple steps that can be started that same day.

You and the kids can select a receptacle to start storing the food waste — such as an empty milk carton or a resealable plastic bag that can be temporarily stored in the fridge. From there, you can choose a spot in the backyard that’s close to the garden but out of the way of foot traffic.

Mom and daughter watering plants
Anthony Shkraba

Start a veggie garden

Additionally, your children might enjoy starting their own garden. One way to get the little ones involved requires the collection of stems and roots of vegetables and placing them in shallow containers of water. Or, they can take beans and place them in a wet paper towel inside of a small cup with shallow water. Eventually, the sprouts can be transplanted outdoors.

Likewise, you can plant seeds outdoors depending on the weather conditions for this time of year. Another tip to remember is to use potting soil to fill in the furrows and eventually use the contents from the compost pile to fertilize.

siblings sorting recyclable material

Start your own recycling center

If you don’t already have a home-recycling system in place, Earth Day is the best time to start one. All you need are some receptacles, and your children can make colorful signs to label each one for glass, plastic, aluminum, paper, and so forth.

Make a bird feeder

If you’re still planning what to do with your kids on Earth Day, go online to learn how to make a bird feeder. There is a variety of designs that vary in difficulty. An extra perk to this activity is that bird feeders can be crafted from just about any recycled item in the house including:

  • Milk or juice cartons
  • Plastic bottles turned upside down onto a base
  • Citrus rinds attached to branches with twine
  • Legos
  • Tin cans

For the easiest bird feeder that works out well with older toddlers, make a pine-cone feeder — spread peanut butter onto a pine cone and roll it in birdseed before hanging it on a tree branch with kite string or twine.

Go on a backyard campout

Wrapping up a busy Earth Day can go well into the evening with a backyard campout. Not only is this activity fun for all ages, it presents a prime opportunity to teach your children the practice of leaving no trace behind.

Also, instead of a cleanup hiking trip at a camp site, you and the kids can walk around the block and pick up any litter. Don’t forget the gloves.

This Earth Day, you can celebrate with your kids at home by incorporating any of these fun and educational activities. Your family will build some awesome memories and good habits while doing your part in learning how to care for the environment.

Editors' Recommendations

5 easy Thanksgiving sides kids can help make for this year’s feast
Let the kids help you make these Thanksgiving side dishes this holiday
Family cooking together in the kitchen

Ah, autumn. Russet-hued leaves keep fluttering to the ground. There's an explosion of amber, auburn, gamboge, and scarlet everywhere you turn. And everyone's prepping for Thanksgiving and the subsequent holidays. Yes, Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday to spend time with family and friends, but if you’re cooped up in the kitchen all day, all by yourself, you feel a little left out of the fun. Invite the kids into the kitchen this year to help with arguably one of the best parts of the holiday dinner -- those side dishes. 

While some may struggle with roasting the most delicious turkey possible, not all Thanksgiving dishes are such a challenge. There are many sides, in fact, that are so easy that even the kids could cook them (with a little assistance, of course). Here are five easy Thanksgiving sides kids can make. Let them try this holiday season.

Read more
5 fun, creative, and easy Thanksgiving crafts kids can make this holiday
Get ready to gobble about these easy kids' Thanksgiving crafts
Thankful fall background

Taking down the Halloween decorations is always a bit sad. The house looks out of sorts, inside and out, without all of those fun decorations. So, it's a good thing Thanksgiving is just around the corner from Halloween. Of course, turkeys grab the headlines during Thanksgiving, but there are a lot of other DIY Thanksgiving decorations to help set the stage for the family-centered November holiday.

Creating easy Thanksgiving crafts with the kids to get the house back in a festive mood helps generate excitement for the upcoming holiday. It's also a perfect way to make a cute centerpiece for the Thanksgiving table or make placemats for when the extended family gathers around the table to celebrate. Here are five do-it-yourself Thanksgiving crafts to get the family started decking the halls for Turkey Day.

Read more
Indoor activities during the rain to keep kids busy and happy
Learning meets fun: What to do when it's raining and children are bored
Child and parents playing hide-and-seek in their living room

For children who like to play outside (and who doesn’t?!), a rainy day can hamper their plans. You might be wondering how to keep them occupied. And you might be frantically planning out activities for bored kids -- those that are limited indoors, at least. But don’t worry! Even inside, there are still lots of ways to have fun. Check out some of the following indoor activities during the rain, and adjust them to suit your family’s needs.

Sensory play that uses everyday items to boost brain development
Exploring the world through the senses is an important part of child development. There are numerous ways you can encourage sensory play in your household. The possibilities are endless when it comes to appropriate materials. From kneading dough to placing their hands in a bowl of uncooked rice to wafting scents of extracts, many foods are a great choice to explore with the senses. Sensory bins can be created (and later modified) according to a theme, such as desert ecology or animals on a farm. But whatever you choose to place in a sensory bin, be mindful of potential choking hazards.

Read more