April 22nd… Earth Day is a day we can celebrate in class, at home, and outside. Check out this list of Amazing and Educational Earth Day STEAM Activities for Kids.
The History of Earth Day
Earth Day started in 1970 by Gaylor Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin. He got the idea for a national day to focus on the environment after seeing how a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California in 1969 impacted the entire ecosystem. Now, Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22nd as a chance for countries around the world to focus on ways to make our planet a better place.
Amazing Earth Day STEAM Activities to Do This April 22
April 22nd is a great day to get out into your community and make a difference to our planet. Many communities have Earth Day events to help clean up public space, plant trees, and more. So check your local community website or sites like EarthDay.org or Red Tricycle for local activities.
And just for fun, tell a few Earth Day Jokes for Kids with this funny list from Confidence Meets Parenting.
Earth Day Science Activities
Earth science is an amazing thing and what better day to explore it?
Do some Plastic Baggie Science with these fun experiments. Kids will learn about decomposition, the water cycle, and the plant cycle. All for just pennies.
Grab three plastic bags. Fill two with soil and one with water. To one soil bag, add some bean or wheatgrass seeds. To the other bag, add small bits of trash like paper, food scraps, and plastic. Seal the bags tight and tape to a window and watch! You can grab more hints on how to grow wheatgrass here.
Explore the Plant Life Cycle with Fast-Growing Wheatgrass || Left Brain Craft Brain
Want to grow stuff in your garden instead? Here’s How to Make Seed Bombs || Left Brain Craft Brain
Help kids understand and improve on their impact on the earth with What is a Carbon Footprint || Kitchen Counter Chronicle
We love adding learning to our food so here are some of our favorite Earth-themed recipes and activities.
Layers of the Earth Pudding Cups || Left Brain Craft Brain
Earth Toast || Left Brain Craft Brain
Chocolate Rock Cycle || Left Brain Craft Brain
Here’s a sneak peek of two of these fun Earth snacks. This is just one of the videos you get when you sign up for STEAM Explorers in April 2019.
Earth Day Art Projects for Kids
Any day is a great day to incorporate some art, but I especially love Earth Day. It’s a great day to incorporate recycled goods into your projects, too!
Earth Day is a great day to repurpose materials into activities for kids. Here are some of my favorites.
Recycled Plastic Flowers Art and Science Project || Left Brain Craft Brain
Melted Crayon Earth Rocks || Left Brain Craft Brain
Upcycled Earth Day Collage || I Heart Crafty Things
Stained Glass Earth Craft || Mum in the Madhouse
Student Holding the Earth Craft || Proud to be Primary
Upcycled Earth Community Art Project || Left Brain Craft Brain (coming soon!)
Earth Play Dough Model || Playdough to Plato
Make Earth Seed Paper || Views from a Step Stool
Make Every Day Earth Day!
Celebrate Earth Day all year round... Have fun as we reduce, reuse, renew, and recycle with the STEAM Explorers Recycle Ebook Unit Study!
Here are some of the unique things the kids can do with the Recycle Ebook Unit Study by STEAM Explorers:
- Learn about the plight of plastic and make a Bioplastic Suncatcher.
- Discover how our trash breaks down with a Detecting Decomposition Experiment.
- Reduce, reuse, renew, and recycle with a Zero Waste Challenge or a T-Shirt Tote Bag.
- Save one of the 1 billion toothbrushes thrown out every year by making a Litter Bug Bot.
- Craft some Math-Filled Paper Bag Roses that no one will believe came from trash. (Psstt... they're perfect for Mother's Day gifts!)
- Plus they can snack on Garbage Cookies, do some recycling-themed offline coding, and more!
Inside every STEAM Explorers ebook are:
- Projects:Â Hands-on science, technology, engineering, art, and math projects
- Printables:Â Fun printables for independent learning and fun
- Recipes:Â Delicious recipes that have a learning spin
- Learning:Â Interesting reading that helps kids learn about our planet on every page
- Activity Calendar:Â A helpful calendar to make adding STEAM to your day simple and fun.
- Supplies List:Â A handy supplies list for the month that makes prep easy.
- BONUS! A coupon to save 25% on a monthly STEAM Explorers subscription. That's where you'll find a kid-safe online portal filled with helpful activity videos, teacher lesson plans, and more.
