Celebrating Earth Day With Kids

Happy Earth Day!

Today is Earth Day, a national day to honor Mother Earth while inspiring appreciation and awareness for the environment. The green movement is founded on utilizing methods and products that help preserve our natural resources for generations to come. Kids are no exception to learning green habits and are more than happy to learn new things. Instilling eco-friendly habits in your little ‘greeners’ now will result in conscientious adults; not to mention helping the planet along the way. Whether it is throughout the community or at home, there is no better day than today to start so here’s how to celebrate Earth Day with kids:

• Read the Lorax for tonight’s bedtime story:  written by the much beloved Dr. Seuss, the Lorax brings to light the harm we have caused our environment but in a clever, kid-friendly way.
• Visit an Earth Day Festival or Expo: not only will it provide some great family time, attending an Earth Day celebration in your community will allow little ones to see just how many people are working together to help the environment.
• Have a green party: create a small garden party without creating any waste and using local foods.

• Visit your local farmer: out of produce for the green garden party? Take the kids to visit a local farmer and allow them to ask the farmer questions about how the food is grown
• Visit Planet Pals:  surf the web for planetpals.com, a non-profit website dedicated to helping kids learn about their planet.  There are interactive videos, online games, and craft ideas for kids as well as plenty of ideas of parents and teachers.
• Start at home: begin a recycling plan at home if you haven’t already or ask kids to collect any toys they don’t play with any longer or clothes that don’t fit and bring them to the local thrift store together.  You can also use today set to some family ‘green goals’ like turning off the water while brushing your teeth or bringing your own grocery bags to the store.
• Begin a new family tradition: just like other holidays, start an Earth Day family tradition that you do together on Earth Day for many years to come.