With Xtrema's focus on a toxin-free, green lifestyle, we wanted to share some activities for families to do together to honor Mother Nature and the importance of living your most natural and pure life. Happy Earth Day!
Earth Toast
Earth Toast is a simple food project fun and easy for all ages of children (and parents) for Earth Day.
- Get round bread either with a cookie cutter or large mug to cut a piece of bread, or use an English muffin or a bagel. Toast the bread.
- Gather together blue and green food coloring. You can even make your own to continue the theme of green lifestyle. For green food coloring, mix matcha with water or simmer spinach with water and strain and cool. For blue food coloring, simmer red cabbage with water, strain, add a small amount of baking soda, mix and cool. Another option is to puree blueberries or blackberries with your milk of choice or water.
- Place in bowls with something to use as a brush (unused paint brush or food basting brush, or an unused sponge).
- Color the "earth" bread and enjoy!
Recycled Eggshell Garden
Continuing the Earth Day food project theme, Earth Toast can be paired with eggs! Instead of throwing those shells away, use them to plant miniature gardens!
This is a great way to honor the Earth both by recycling your eggshells, and by teaching your kids the value and accessibility of seed growth.
- Take the halves of broken egg shells, and gently rinse them.
- Put seed starter soil into the eggs.
- Plant seeds and water, then place near a window.
- As the seeds sprout, break the shells surrounding the seedling as you transplant. Keep the broken shells in the new soil, as it provides calcium and other nutrients to the plant as it continues to grow.
Footprint Earth
A precious activity that can become an annual tradition, Footprint Earth is super simple, and all you need is blue construction paper and green finger paint.
- Cut a sizeable circle out of your blue paper.
- Add some green paint into a tray.
- Let your kids get the bottoms of their feet coated with it, and watch them create their own globe as they walk over the blue circle to form their continents!
The result is a perfect piece of art and a reminder of how tiny their feet were once upon a time.
Upcycled Suncatchers
This activity is a great way to recycle your clear plastic grocery store berry containers or any other items that are going into the recycling bin that are clear and plastic or glass (be sure it is safe for children to handle).
- Start by cutting the clear containers into whatever shape your kids want their suncatcher to be.
- Using markers, kids can decorate their suncatchers however they want – the more colorful, the better!
Happy Earth Day!
