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Earth day is an occasion to ponder over problems like environmental pollution and animal species extinction. Children can be made aware of their roles and responsibilities through Earth Day crafts and similar activities. Most people celebrate April 22nd as Earth Day whereas others celebrate it on vernal equinox.

A few crafts for your children to make are:

Papier Mache Globe:
This is a messy activity but teaches the children a lot of geography. Make glue by mixing 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of water till it is thin and runny. Stir the mixture into 4 cups of boiled water and simmer for three minutes to give the glue a consistency. Then cool it for use. Tear one-inch wide newspaper strips without worrying about the length. Make each kid blow up a balloon. Dip the strips in the glue, remove the excess and stick them around the balloon. Stick at least three layers of strips. Dry the balloon overnight after sticking each layer of strips.

Once completely dry – this might take a few days – the balloon will automatically burst, separate from the papier- mache, leaving a papier- mache globe. Draw the map of the earth showing whatever you want to.

Earth Pendant/ Earth Light Catcher:
Take an earth printout and place any flexible transparent paper over it. Spread blue glue on the flexible paper over its ocean part and the green glue on the continents. Fix an unbent paper clip at the top in the glue to attach a string. Peel the glue once it has dried. Now attach a string to hang the craft in a window.

Pine Cone Bird Feeder: Prepare a food mixture by mixing ½ cup vegetable shortening, lard or suet with 2 ½ cups cornmeal or uncooked oats and blend well. Get bird foods like dried chopped fruits and nuts, sunflower or millet seeds. Take a pinecone and tie a string to it. Cover the cone with the food mixture and roll over the bird food. Now hang it on a tree.

Magic Leaf Drawing: Place a real leaf on a flat surface. Place a paper over it and crayon it. The leaf appears magically on the paper.

Paper Evergreen Tree: Fold and cut in half a construction paper piece. Put the halves together and fold again. Opposite the fold, draw half of an evergreen tree. Cut along the line to get two identical trees. Fold the trees in half, barely creasing the centerline so as to mark the tree. Make a slit in the lower half of one tree and another in the upper half of the other. Slip the trees together along the slits. To make the tree stand well and prevent the slits from flopping over, tape the top and bottom of the trees with a clear tape. You may draw pinecones for added attraction.

For bigger trees take two pieces construction papers and fold them to make a narrow rectangle. Draw a tree opposite the fold and proceed as earlier. You get a big tree – perhaps a fitting tribute to the earth on Earth Day.

These Earth Day crafts are simple yet it would an enjoyable and educative experience for you and your children.