Here are a bunch of ideas I found for a little earth day fun with the kiddos. There are tons of crafts and printables out there, but here are a few of my favs. I’m totally doing the Rice Crispy earth with my little guy.

• Magazine Holder from Kaboose This one is not only for the kids. I want these for me. What a great idea! These can be really expensive if you purchase them.

• Ladybug Rocks from Kaboose How adorable are these? Wouldn’t they be a great addition to the yard?

• Pine cone Bird Feeder from Kids Craft Zone I was just talking about this one with my sis the other day when my son brought me a pine cone. I did this when I was a child of the 80s.
• Rice Crispie Earth Recipe from DLTK. I adore anything done with cereal treats. YUM!

• Tons of Fun Printables from DLTK. For the no prep, no effort, I need to get dinner on the table time.
• An Earth Worksheet and Recycled Building from Ted Wells

• Box Seats from Family Fun Excuse me, will these hold me up? (Ya, right. Maybe 20 Years ago.) I want something so pretty and girly to sit on while I play tools and cars.

• Space Station made from Recyclables from Family Fun. Earth Day can be a time to play with the solar system too right?

• Box Car Derby made from cereal boxes from Family Fun. My little boy would get a kick out of this, especially if we made a ramp for them to fly off.

Don’t trash it, play with it! 😉

1. Recycle

• Lucky for us, where I live recycling is required so we have a recycle can where we can dump all of our recyclable goods. We don’t even have to separate them. Talk about easy.
  
• If this is not the case for you, a good place to start is with newspaper and phone books. Collect them in a box or basket and deliver them to the properly marked “dumpsters” in your grocery store parking lot every few weeks.
• Another way to recycle is thrift store donating and shopping. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
  
  

2. Buy Orange Juice

• What?! Tropicana is having a promotion right now where you get a code that saves 100 square feet of rainforest and gives you a chance to win eco-friendly prizes! How cool! They even show you a picture of your little plot. See my little spot in Peru below.
  

3. Buy Re-usable shopping bags

• Mine are from Smith’s, but look pretty similar to the Walmart bags below. Almost a year ago I thought I would try to do my part and bought a couple of these little babies to try them out. I thought it might be annoying to have to remember them every time. Are you kidding?! I LOVE my bags! I have five and am considering a few more.
• 
• At 99 cents a pop, why not? (They also have bags that keep items cool for about $2)
  
• They hold SO much more than plastic bags (which means less trips to unload the car) and they stand up in the back of the car (no more escapee cans or apples). These are a serious blessing in disguise.
  
• Oh, I almost forgot to mention that they pay for themselves! At least at Smith’s, You get a 5 cent discount for every bag you have every time you shop. If you do not have some, GET SOME!
  
• I just put them back in my trunk whenever I am done putting away the groceries and then I never have to find them on my way to the store.
• They are also useful for Picnics, Canyon trips, Lakeside lunches, etc.
  

4. Use Social Networking

• There are different apps on each site (MySpace, Facebook, etc) that use your clicks to get money from advertisers to save rainforest and ocean.
• For instance, the two below save One Sq Ft of rainforest for every 10 plants or fish you send to your friends.
  

You collect plants and fish people send to you in your own little green patch or blue cove. Below is a pic of my little blue cove.

5. Conserve water

• Use 1/2 empty water bottles you find lying around the house to water plants.
  
• Collect water you run in the tub or shower while it’s warming up to fill kiddy swimming pools, fill water storage bottles or water the garden.
  
• Turn off the water while shaving or brushing your teeth.