Showing posts with label Earth Day Craft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Earth Day Craft. Show all posts

4/22/2011

Earth Day Tissue Box Challenge; A Functional Piece of Art

So, this year for Earth Day my children and I participated in the Tissue Box Challenge over at The Activity Mom's  and JDaniel4's Mom's Blog!
A Flower Box made from recycled material

Classified: Environmentally Friendly!

After finishing up our Papier Mache Bunny Basket, and being in the Papier Mache mode, my children and I decided to make a flower box using a tissue box, newspaper and a plastic bag as our recycled materials.

Using a tissue box, I knew that our first challenge was Papier Maching the box without it collapsing! We decided that it was best to start on the inside, and only the bottom. It worked!



We then papier mached the rest of the box..............................

To create a liner to hold in the dirt and water (and so we don't collapse what was already done) we adhered a plastic bag to the inside of the box.



And then we papier mached some more.........................

And painted (my daughter chose the color pink, my son red. I was thinking Earth tones. I lost that battle!)..........................



In an earlier lesson on Earth Day, we discussed how we can reduce our carbon "footprint." When our pink and red paints were dry, my oldest son wanted to have footprints on the flower box to remind us to take care of the Earth! It's amazing what information they retain.


We then planted flowers in our finished product.







Let's see how long it lasts!

4/15/2011

Kid's Craft- Earth Day Mobile

Earth Day is held on April 22 each year to enhance awareness of the Earth's environment and to help show appreciation of the world around us. It is also a wonderful time to instill great habits in our children on how to keep the environment clean and protected for years to come.


Classified: Easy and is great for preschool and older.

Books: The EARTH Book by Todd Parr
Internet: PBS Kids- Earth Day

What you need:
  • White, blue and green paper
  • Blue and green paint
  • Sponge
  • Scissors
  • Pencil
  • Crayons
  • Yarn or thread
  • Palette
  • Glue stick
  • Tape or hole puncher
  • Optional: smocks, towels or anything else for clean up. 
  • Optional: Plates, circular container tops to trace circles.

What you do:
Preparation: Trace 1 circle for the Earth, 3 (or more) hearts out of white and 3 (or more) hearts out of blue and green paper that is slightly larger than the white.

1. Discuss with your children (students) about the steps you can take to protect the world and help save the environment. Enhance the lesson with books, posters and Web sites (like PBS Kids) that discuss the importance of Earth Day.

2. Trace a circle onto a white sheet of paper to represent the Earth. Using a sponge, have your child sponge paint the entire "Earth" blue.

3. While the blue paint is drying, ask your child what he or she can do to save the environment (recycling, plant a tree, turn off the water, etc.). Write a brief explanation that your child gives onto each heart. Have them illustrate each explanation.


4. Before you continue painting the Earth, your child should now glue the illustrated white hearts onto the blue and/or green hearts.

5. Using the green paint and a sponge, and some land to the Earth's surface. Discuss with your child how the Earth is mostly made of water.

6. Allow to dry.

7. Depending on the age of your child, have them cut out their "Earth" using kid-friendly scissors.

8. Assemble the mobile together either using tape or a hole puncher. I gave two options below.
Without wire coat hanger

With Wire Coat Hanger

Vocabulary: Earth Day, Mobile, environment, recycling
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