6 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day with your Family

Earth Day is a simple holiday and is often overlooked by many.  It is a great chance to help teach your children how to take care of our planet and to help instill some of the important actions of all adults, from litter pick up to helping plant trees and keep our Earth clean.  Still, it can be tricky to find the perfect activity with your child on this day, so check out these 6 activities to celebrate Earth Day with your Family!

Top 3 Choices:Simple, Easy, Fun!

1. Get Outside: This may seem simple, but nothing will help your child appreciate and enjoy our planet more than spending time outside.  Take the time to find a new park and explore. While you are exploring, make sure to pick up any trash and debris to help make this new park the best place it can be.  Even better, take your bikes or go for a walk to the new park for a more green mode of transportation!
2. Grow Something Green: Take a moment on Earth Day to plant something new in your home or yard.  It can be a full garden, some flowers in the front, a new tree, or a terrarium inside. Make sure each member of your family is able to have a part of picking out the new, green item for your home and let them help plant it.  Even children as young as one are able to help water and would love to explore the dirt.  If you have older children, take a moment to discuss how this plant helps our Earth, from fresh oxygen to new habitat for all sorts of creatures!
3. Recycle: Take a moment to discuss recycling with your children. Often, children love the idea of helping out, but may be confused on how.  Show your children which items can be recycled, the correct way to recycle, and encourage them to talk to others about recycling.  Want to take it a step further?  Take a walk and have a recycling challenge.  Have them pick up litter and sort into recycling and non.  See who can sort the fastest and most accurate.

Three More Ideas: Learning is the Key to Growth

1. Find Your Footprint: If you are looking for a stronger learning activity, work together to find your ecological footprint!  Check out this footprint calculator, which takes into account your family's habits, and answer the questions. Afterwards, read the tips to see how you can reduce your footprint and help others to do the same!
2. Make an Act of Green: Looking for a more long term project?  Pledge, as a family, to make an Act of Green, which is part of the Earth Day's Billion Acts of Green initiative.  Your family simply puts what they will do to help make the Earth a greener place, and complete your pledge.  Simple, easy, and fun!
3. Play a Game: This one may seem a bit strange, but here are some great games online for both kids and adults!  For the younger children, try this fun education PBS game, perfect for Earth Day. For the teens and adults in your house, try this fun game developed by Allianz and the World Wildlife Federation.  It is an interesting way to discover and explore corporate responsibility and cause and effect. 

Earth Day, celebrated on April 22nd each year, is the perfect chance for your family to take a moment and think about the planet we live on.  Each person needs to be doing their part to help keep our planet clean and functional for many years to come. With these six easy activities, your family is able to educate themselves and other about what you should do to help save our planet!