How To Help Your Kids Get The Most Out Of Earth Day 2022

Each year, Earth Day is celebrated worldwide with the aim to raise awareness about the environment and encourage us to make positive changes to support it. From pollution to deforestation, there are lots of issues to talk about with your children and solutions you can discuss to help them make better choices for the planet. Whether it’s turning off lights or figuring out ingenious ways to reduce the use of plastic, every little helps when it comes to protecting the environment. 

Keep reading as we take a look at how you can help your kids get the most out of Earth Day this year, whilst making a positive impact on the world around you…

When is Earth Day 2022? 

Earth Day is celebrated annually on the 22nd of April, and this year’s theme is Invest In Our Planet. The theme strives to encourage business leaders to change their operations to support the future of our planet. And to remind them that ‘sustainability is the path to prosperity.’ 

How you can get involved:

Talk about ways to help the planet at home

Whether it’s turning off lights when they leave the room or swapping watching the TV for reading a book, there are plenty of things your little ones can do to help save energy – and the planet. All kids love a challenge and the feeling of responsibility, so explain to them how every little helps when it comes to helping the environment alongside setting some clear goals. Why not create an energy-saving sheet awarding your child a sticker or prize for each milestone they hit? 

Go for a bike ride

One of the best ways to see the importance of Earth Day is to get out among nature and observe all of the things that we take for granted when it comes to the planet. Things like fresh air, trees, plants and animals are glorious to see in real life, so leave the car behind, pack some vegan snacks and water and explore all the beauty nature has to offer. 

You could add another layer of learning by giving your child a list of things to find (such as trees, rivers, birds etc) and later educate them on how environmental causes help protect them. 

Learn about recycling 

It can be tricky to talk to children about recycling and highlight the importance of separating items before putting them in the bin. So take a moment to sit down with your kids to explain the process and let them ask questions. Discuss where the rubbish in the bin lorry ends up, and what happens to plastic after it’s gone in the bin. Some other things you can do to encourage your kids to recycle include:

• Making indoor recycling bins easily identifiable 
• Assign them recycling duties
• Make a ‘Recycling Officer’ badge
• Hold a recycling competition 
• Explain why you use reuseable alternatives to household items

Make planet earth biscuits

Use your favourite biscuit recipe to create circles and decorate them with green and blue icing to make little (and delicious) mini planet earth biscuits. You could also purchase some ready-made biscuits and decorate them with royal icing or buttercream. 

Why not try to make your recipe as environmentally friendly as possible and set the kids a challenge for finding sustainable ingredients? Take a trip to the shop and help them navigate food information and labelling, searching for fairtrade ingredients or food items without plastic packaging. 

Read books

As all parents know, books are an extremely valuable educational tool. Your child’s school might have plenty of fantastic, expertly written and engaging book choices in the library, which are ideal for educating children about environmental concerns. You can also look to purchase your own – here are some great planet-friendly reads: 

• Greta and the Giants by Zoe Tucker
• Tidy by Emily Gravett
• The Day Cars Went to Sleep by Hye-eun Shin
• Saving Celeste by Timothée de Fombelle

Get crafty

There are plenty of things you can do to re-use single-use plastics, including fun, crafty activities. For example, you can use plastic bottles to make:

• DIY bird feeders
• Plant terrariums 
• Painted plant pots 
• Watering cans 

Plant a tree 

Why not plant a tree to celebrate Earth Day? Trees are incredibly beneficial to the local environment as they provide food and nests for animals, produce oxygen and purify the air. Trees also absorb carbon, which is said to be a huge factor in the current climate crisis we find ourselves in – so planting as many trees as possible is a simple solution. 

If you don’t have a garden or a suitable area to plant a tree, why not take part in The Canopy Project. In conjunction with Earth Day, the project has planted millions of trees since 2010. The programme selects specific planting locations in the areas that need trees most, including Uganda, India, Mexico and Madagascar. 

Build an insect hotel

A great way to celebrate Earth Day is to provide for nature, so why not build an insect hotel to attract all sorts of critters and creepy crawlies to your garden? What’s more, you don’t need to buy any special materials as they can be made with bits and pieces from the garden. You will need:

• Twigs, logs and bark
• Old bits of wood like pallets or off-cuts
• Broken plant pots
• Plant stems or bamboo canes 
• Cardboard

Start by creating a secure base with a piece of wood (or concrete slab), then layer up different pieces of wood and debris at different angles to create the main structure. Then make lots of cool, damp hiding spaces for insects by inserting twigs, sticks, plant stems and cardboard among all of the gaps. 

Now you’ve got plenty of ideas to help you and the kids make the most out of Earth Day this year, and there are loads of ways to make them environmentally conscious all year round as well. So, why not get started and help your little one be a little greener.