We’re always encouraged to think about the impact we have on the planet, and when Earth Day rolls around, it’s an especially great opportunity to educate your children on the fine art of being eco-friendly.

By showing your kids that it is important to be nice to Mother Earth, you can set them on a path toward eco-friendly living. Try these fun recycling projects with your kids to teach them to care for the earth!

Earth-Care Importance

Before you sit down with your children and craft some recycled relics, discuss the importance of taking care of the Earth. You don’t have to prepare an extensive lesson. Instead, just talk to them about the things that they can do to keep the Earth healthy. Provide them with simple ways that they can protect the planet, such as turning off the water when they brush their teeth. After your casual conversation, they will likely be more in-tune with the spirit of Earth Day.

Craft Junk Jewelry

Organize a recycled art project that your little angels can wear by creating some junk jewelry. String soda can tabs on yarn to create a jangly bracelet or necklace. For a more challenging project, cut magazine pages into long triangles, dip them in a mixture of two parts water and one part glue mixture, and wrap them around a tooth pick to create magazine beads. String these beads on thread to make bright necklaces.

Make Eco Art

Allow your little eco-warriors to exercise their creativity with an eco-art activity. Save colorful trash pieces for a few weeks, then give your kids art supplies and ask them to use the trash to craft works of art. To make the activity even more exciting to your artistic brood, give them each an old frame to create their art work in. This fancy surrounding will entice them to put effort into their art and provides you with a use for that old frame that you would have otherwise discarded.

Concoct a Creative Competition

Make your project competitive by engaging your kids, and perhaps even some crafty neighbors, in an eco-friendly art competition. Provide each participant with the same materials. For example, you could give each creator a newspaper, two cans and an empty mac-and-cheese box. Ask the inventive bunch to use the provided supplies, along with some basic art essentials, to create an eco-friendly masterpiece. Have the creators judge each other’s works to determine who produced the best product using the provided supplies. Present this crafter with a special prize, such as an eco-friendly tin-foil crown.

Walk the Walk

Sure, Earth Day is on April 22, but don’t forget about eco-friendliness throughout the rest of the year! Instead, show your kids that taking care of the planet is always important by making it a habit to engage in Earth-friendly behavior, such as recycling, turning off unnecessary lights and conserving water. If your kids see you put effort into conserving the Earth’s resources, they will be likely to follow your lead.