Staying home with kids can be fun. We bet after a few weeks of unplanned confinement, you have doubts.
You are stuck at home with your active and inquisitive two (three, four, five, six, take your pick)-year-old or (oh, no!) a few of them. The ideas of fun things to do are running out at the speed of light. Is it time to panic?
Not at all! With Earth Day coming up, we've created a list of fun activities to help you take the mandatory isolation in stride. Your kids will love every minute, helping you relax along the way.
1. Fighting Plastic Waste: Sewing a Tote Bag
Good for kids: 4 -6 years old
Time: 2 – 3 hours
Bright and colorful tote bags are always in demand. Your kids will love making something on their own and using it to save the planet. Thankfully, the process is fairly easy. All you need is fabric, canvas straps, and some patience.
While it's nice to have a sewing machine to complete this project, you can do it by hand. Uneven stitches made by little hands will make your new tote bag sweet and unique.
Does your 5-year-old have younger brothers and sisters? They can pitch in by taking a couple of markers and drawing exclusive patterns on the bag.
We loved this bag-sewing tutorial.
An interesting fact to share: Every second 160,000 plastic bags are used around the planet.
2. Saving the Birds: Building a Bird Feeder
Good for kids: 2 -12 years old
Time: 1 – 2 hours
Building a bird feeder is always fun. While the activity can give your children new and exciting skills, it also has hidden potential. Your children will love putting food into the feeder and watching birds take full advantage of their creation.
Depending on how old your kid is, you can choose the type of bird feeder to build. While wooden birdhouses are the best, not all parents possess the skills (maybe it's time to learn?) or tools to build them. So we suggest taking an easy way out.
Since it's Earth Day, consider creating feeders out of recycled materials. Plastic bottles or empty milk cartons work just fine.
An interesting fact to share: When it comes to bird feeders, squirrels are birds' worst enemies. So you should squirrel-proof the feeder by placing it at least five feet away from the tree.
3. Exploring Ocean Contamination: Oil Spill Cleanup
Good for kids: 3 - 12 years old
Time: 1 – 2 hours
Earth Day is an excellent opportunity to teach your kids about oil spills. While you are explaining the dangers of oil spills, you can create a little cleanup experiment. You'll need:
Vegetable oil
Detergent
Water
Spoon
Cloth pads
Pan
Rock
Bird feathers (if you don't have any, you can just use a piece of cloth shaped like a feather)
We've found an excellent video experiment to help teach your kids all about oil spills and how hard they are to clean up.
An interesting fact to share: The largest oil spill to date occurred in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico.
4. Being Waste Conscious: Making Recycling Bins
Good for kids: 1 - 7 years old
Time: 1 – 2 hours
Waste sorting is one of the easiest ways children of all ages can help take care of our planet. Even if you already have different bins for paper, plastic, glass, and organic waste, your children can make a couple of them for their rooms.
While organic waste should stay in the kitchen, your kids can create personal bins for paper and plastic. All you need is a couple of old cardboard boxes and crayons. Let them decorate the boxes and write "paper" or "plastic" on them. If you don't have the boxes, you can make them!
An interesting fact to share: Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4,000 kilowatts of energy and 7,000 gallons of water!
5. Breathing Easier: Planting Seeds
Good for kids: 1 - 12 years old
Time: 1 - 3 hours
Planting seeds is always a fun activity. It's an excellent opportunity to tell your children why we should take care of plants and trees. It doesn't matter what kind of seeds you plant, kids will love the process.
You can either plant something in the backyard or extend the fun by making DIY flowerpots or decorating existing ones.
It's possible to make flowerpots out of recycled materials. You can use plastic bottles, old paint cans, tires, and even old shoes. What an excellent way to recycle the little shoes your children grew out of!
An interesting fact to share: Trees don't just help us breathe. They cut energy bills. The shade produced by trees can save up to 30% of the energy we use for air conditioning.
6. Saving Energy: Using Candles
Good for kids: 1 - 99 years old
Time: 1 - ∞
Earth Day is an excellent opportunity to teach your children about saving energy. Turn off all the lights in your home, light candles, and tell stories.
To make candles for the energy-saving evening, you can use the old and boring candles you have at home and give them a new life.
You can also use this opportunity to teach children about fire safety.
An interesting fact to share: The custom of putting lit candles on the cake and making a wish dates back to ancient Greeks. They thought that smoke from a blown-out candle carried their thoughts to Gods.
Have Fun While Learning a New Language
Earth Day isn't just about saving our planet. It's also aimed at bringing people together. Closing the distance doesn't always have to be physical. You can do it by learning a new language.
At Little Pim, we focus on making learning fun. Contact us to find out about engaging, easy, and accessible programs for your children. Being stuck at home is an excellent opportunity to beef up your language skills!