This Wednesday, April 22. 2020, marks the 50th annual Earth Day in the USA! Here’s a few of our favorite themed art and STEM projects to celebrate the day.

We encourage you check out other free Earth Day resources such as earthday.org and exploratorium.edu. Please share any addition ones you’ve found in the comments!

Have you heard of the Kindness Rocks Project, a grassroots movement started by Megan Murphy, that has inspired thousands to color the earth with decorated rocks? Just check out the IG hashtag #thekindnessrockproject and you’ll immediately be hooked! For Earth Day, we’re challenging you to gather rocks from your yard or neighborhood trails (be sure to exercise social distancing!), paint or draw on the rocks using Earth Day as your inspiration and then return them to the trails. Here’s what you need:

Materials

Rocks
Acrylic Paint or Paint Pens
Sealer like Mod Podge (Optional)

Instructions

Gather Rocks
Paint your design on each rock. Use paint pens for detail work and lettering.
Seal your work using Mod Podge or another clear sealant
Return your rocks to a public trail, snap a picture, and share it with us on Facebook or Instagram!

Create beautiful Earth sun catchers using the science of diffusion & solubility.

Materials

Coffee Filters
Washable Markers (Blue and green for Earth, but you can use any color for additional planets)
Tray (Plastic or cookie sheet…or something that can get wet)
Spray Bottle

Instructions

Color your coffee filter completely using blue (ocean) and green (land). Ask: Research questions for Elementary-aged kids: How much of the Earth is covered in water? How should you represent that on your project? Additional research question for older kids: How is climate change impacting water on the Earth?
Once your coffee filter if completely covered, place in on the tray and lightly spray with water. The washable ink water-based and therefore soluble using water (that’s what makes it washable!). This allows the colors to diffuse or spread the particles throughout the filter. If you were to try this using Sharpie, it wouldn’t work as Sharpie isn’t soluble using water (permanent marker). You could, however, do the same project using Sharpie and rubbing alcohol!
Allow to dry. Then hang in your window and enjoy!

This project is 100% Earth Day approved as it hits all of the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle! All you need is your recycling bin, glue and a big imagination!

Materials

Anything from the recycling bin: egg crates, milk cartons, cereal boxes, pouch lids, toilet paper rolls, drink caps, corks, etc)
Additional craft supplies (optional) such as markers, googly eyes, pom poms, etc.
Glue and/or tape (glue gun is best if you have it)

Instructions

Put out all of the materials you’ve gathered in the middle of your workspace (We do this often and call this “creation station” at our house!)
Build your robot using the materials at hand
Tell the story about your robot! What does it do? How does it work? Does it need a robot friend? The skies the limit
Ask: how does this project incorporate the 3 R’s? Why is this important to sustainability and our planet?