April is Earth Month and the 22nd of April is Earth Day. Earth month is a great time to talk to children about taking care of our Earth and being mindful of what we do with everything we use. Make this adorable Earth Day craft out of construction paper, or use recycled magazines to really get the message across!
Did you know that the first official Earth Day was in 1970? Senator Gaylord Nelson first came up with the idea in the 1960’s because he was concerned that environmental issues were not being addressed or taken seriously. He formed a grassroots movement that became immensely popular very quickly, which eventually resulted in the Clean Water, Clean Air and Endangered Species acts.
Since then, awareness and involvement have increased year after year. Did you know that 500 million people will participate in some sort of Earth Day activity during the month of April? Staggering! Our elementary school, and most likely yours as well, participates in Earth Day events too. Each year families are invited to go on a huge group hike through town picking up trash and disposing of it properly. What does your school do for Earth Day?
Print out the pattern and place it over the back of the cereal box. Trace over the design to create an indentation in the cardboard. Use a pen or pencil to lightly trace the indentation so you can see what you are working with.
Cut construction paper or magazines into small squares.
Use a glue stick and the pattern as a guide to add the pieces to your circle.
When you’re finished glueing, turn it over and trim off the excess. Create a hanger using yarn and beads and attach it to the back. Now your Earth is ready for hanging!
This Earth Day craft is very easy to make and each one will be different, making them unique to each child. Here are some ideas for your mosaic Earth Day craft:
1. Why not make it a solar system project and create all the planets in mosaic fashion to display on the bedroom wall or ceiling!
2. Make the Earth two-sided and hang it from a string from the ceiling, allowing it to twirl at will.
3. Make all the planets and hang them at varying heights for a great bedroom display!
More Earth Day Crafts
Ladybugs from Egg Cartons
Cardboard Tube Giraffe
Puffy Paint Earth – No Time For Flashcards
Earth Day Jell-O – Tales of the Scotts
Paper Mache Earth – Let’s Go Fly a Kite
- ½ sheets of construction paper: blue, green, white, and tan or brown
- Piece of recycled cardboard (cereal box, snack box, note pad, etc)
- 12″ piece of yarn
- 6 pony beans (green, blue and white)
- Scissors
- Glue stick
- Tape
- Earth pattern
- Print the pattern and cut around the outer circle. Trace around the pattern circle onto the cardboard and cut out the cardboard circle. Place pattern over the cardboard circle, and using a pen trace over the pattern, pressing firmly to create indents in the cardboard below. Remove the pattern and lightly trace the indents with a pencil to make them easier to see. Cut construction paper into strips, and then into squares.
- Begin with the blue. Use a glue stick to makes sections of the ocean sticky, then place the blue squares onto the glue. Overlap the edges and leave a space between each square. When finished with the oceans, start gluing on the green land, you can mix in some brown as well into the land masses. Lastly, cover the top section with white squares and add a few white squares around the earth for clouds.
- Turn the completed earth over and trim all the excess construction paper around the circle. Fold the piece of yarn in half and wrap a piece of tape around the open ends, closing them together. Thread the pony beads on to the yarn. Move the beads up the yarn until you have just a few inches of excess at the top of the hanger. Tie a knot just below the bottom of the beads and tape to the back of the earth. You can reinforce it by gluing a piece of cardboard over the yarn. Trim off the excess yarn.
Amanda Formaro
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Thanks so much for including my Earth Day Jello. :-) We love doing mosaics too in my house. This one turned out very pretty!