Dig Earth, Baby!

Earth Day is almost here and we're celebrating/learning on the days leading up to April 22nd.

We made nature bracelets and a tree bark transfer while on a nature walk. For this, you will need masking tape, construction paper and chalk or crayons.

For the bracelet, wrap a piece of tape around wrist - sticky side out. You can take a walk in your own yard, or hit the trails. As we took our walk, we collected things (flowers, grass, seeds) and stuck them on our bracelets one at a time (yes, mom had one too!). It was fun to talk about each thing and encourage her to find things on her own to add.

For the tree rubbing, tape your construction paper to a tree and make a texture transfer with chalk/crayon. We talked about the bark and it's rough texture, how it protects the tree and how it is part of God's earth given to us to care for.

Later, we taped our bracelets to the tree transfer paper & put them on display in a 'switch-out' cabinet frame. 

Through this walk, I talked about how God created the earth. To serve God, we should take care of  the earth and enjoy what He has created for us!

Cute

Not so cute

Unfortunately, I had to explain this sight to my girl. The reality already present to her, that not every person cares for earth the way they should. Not good to throw trash (or tires) outside in nature. She agreed with a "yucky, time out tire!" Luckily, trail clean up in our neighborhood is this month..so we'll be sure that it's disposed of properly (but...grrr!).

Here are some other things we plan on doing over the next week, to celebrate Earth Day!

FREE Creation coloring pages (creation of the world as told in the Bible). I just love these, one for each of the seven days. Here's Day three.

Reading:
Big World Little Me. We like this book because it's easy to understand and fun. It tells that even one little person can make a big difference. Your local library may have this book (and others like this) in stock.

Read about the creation (Genesis), as told in the Bible (children's bibles with less words and pretty pictures).

Garden, plant flowers, seeds and trees. Get in the dirt together!

Learning how to recycle, sort.  It's never too early to start talking about the three R's (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). There are lots of great 'How To's' (just google) that show you how to teach your children in fun/unique ways. One way is to do recycled crafts (see Repurpose Driven Life from my blog for ideas). 

We plan to make a milk carton bird feeder this week! Super easy. Google for your favorite and follow instructions.

And, of course...don't forget the yummy treats! These are cute rice crispy earth treats (click underlined link for details). 

If you want to use natural food coloring, you can use Indian Tree food coloring. It only comes in three colors, so you'll have to mix yellow and blue for green (fun to do with kiddo).

I hope everyone enjoys Earth Day and makes it productive, fun and special!