Every day can be Earth Day – it’s the perfect excuse to get outside and learn about your natural surroundings. With park closures and social distancing in full effect, it can be tricky to find ways to explore the outdoors with your family, so we’ve compiled a list of Earth-focused activities that you can enjoy close to home. Here are 5 ways you can immerse yourself in nature in your own backyard.
1) Set up a scavenger hunt
Get hands on with your natural surroundings by creating a backyard scavenger hunt for your kids! CEFA Early Learning schools have created a great list of items to find in nature with your little ones. Once you’ve found everything on your list, you can make a collage or nature-inspired craft to hang on your wall. This is the perfect way to keep younger kids engaged while exploring the outdoors.
2) Start a garden with your kids for celebrating Earth Day everyday
Teach your kids where food comes from, and encourage them to get hands-on by digging in the dirt, planting seeds, and creating backyard garden spaces for growing and grooming their own food. Healthy Family Expo shares a great list of easy tips for gardening with kids, to help you get started.
3) Go on an adventure through active outdoor play
Help your kids to connect with nature through play! PK Beans (formerly Peekaboo Beans) has rebranded, and with the new name and look, they have introduced the PK Beans Explorers’ Club – a monthly subscription adventure box that incorporates active play with reading, imagination, ingenuity, and a little digital integration too.
4) Build your own beehive for Earth Day
If you really want to commit to helping the planet, why not support the pollinators by learning how to build your own backyard beehive! The Honeybee Conservancy offers step-by-step tips on how to build your own beehive, a hands-on project that will take approx. 1-2 hours to complete. If you’d prefer to purchase a beginner’s beehive building kit, Urban Bee Supplies has some great options to help you get started.
5) Create a backyard compost for Earth Day
There’s no better time than now to teach our children about waste and the natural ways that we can speed up decomposition. Check out this great guide on how compositing can help our planet, and how you can build your own backyard compost to use and maintain as a family to celebrate Earth Day.
For more great activities, tips and resources, check out our latest issue! You can read the full March/April issue online here.
