EARTH DAY 2021 - Restore Our Earth
- Wondering Wildlings
- Apr 19, 2021
- 8 min read
This Thursday (22nd April) is Earth Day. Maybe you’ve heard of it before? Maybe you haven’t? Either way, I hope you will find this blog post helpful and informative, providing you with many inspiring ideas and activities to engage your child in Earth Day.
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Ultimately, Earth Day is about raising awareness of environmental issues and encouraging people to take action against them. Each year there is a theme and this year the theme is: Restore Our Earth. I am particularly fond of this theme and I will explain why…
Personally, I have spent the last two years or so, trying to educate myself better in the environmental issues facing our planet, and learning ways in which we can make changes as a family to help. Sadly, there are many environmental issues causing damage and destruction to our planet. As somebody who suffers with anxiety, I do not cope well with the feeling of helplessness. I NEED to feel like I am doing something - that I am making a positive impact. Thankfully, there are many changes (both big and small) that we can make to reduce our footprint on the planet and help #restoreourearth.
Now I will be completely honest here, researching the issues (and even solutions) can be very overwhelming. While I need to feel I am making a difference and having a positive impact, I also need to make sure what I am doing is manageable and sustainable for us as a family. Now I know that may sound a little bit like an excuse, but if you have already researched into this kind of thing or it is an area you are passionate about, I am sure you can understand the ‘rabbit hole’ metaphor. I think it is important for everybody to educate themselves and to make changes to their lifestyle because it is evident that the way most humans currently live is not sustainable. However, it is important that this is done in a manageable way. As a family we have already made some big changes. We have tried to stop single-use plastic as much as possible; replaced cleaning products for environmentally friendly ones; we eat meat once a week now; we clean up litter virtually every time we go the beach, and more. I know we have made some great positive changes to our lifestyle to reduce our footprint, but there is always the feeling we need to do more. However, I am here to tell you: please do not feel overwhelmed. As long as you’re trying, that is the most important thing. Start small, take steps you can manage and then go from there, increasing changes, if it is manageable for your family. Better to make a small change, than none at all!
So, where to begin? I hope the following suggestions will help guide you through ways in which you can guide and support your child in activities for Earth Day.
What is the problem?
Firstly and importantly, we need to find out: “What is the problem?” There are of course many environmental issues facing our planet today, so take the time to discuss and research some of them with your child. It is important they know why they are doing something and why it is important. Telling your child you are going to do a ‘beach clean-up’ is great but it would be far better if they knew they why behind it too. Give them a purpose to each change and activity and let them understand why the change they are making is so important and how they are making a difference.
My children are aged 5 and 7 and are very aware of some of the environmental issues facing our planet today. We have mostly focused on these three areas:
Climate change
Plastic Pollution
Deforestation
You can of course, research other issues too but for this blog post I will be focusing on these three areas. For this activity, I would spend time researching your chosen areas as a family so you can become ‘experts’. Learning about the issues facing our planet is extremely important but it is also equally as important that we pass the message on. Support your child in choosing how to do this? Would they like to ring a family member and educate them; maybe they would like to write a letter to somebody; create a poster or record a video?
Climate change
Websites:
YouTube videos:
I highly recommend you look through the suggested websites and videos yourself first to ensure their suitability for your child. In particular, the last two videos are very emotional with heart-wrenching scenes.
Books:
Here are my top 3 book recommendations:
Now I know I said three books. However, if you are interested in researching Greta Thunberg further, there are two extra books I would like to share with you. For older children: Greta Thunberg - No one is too small to make a difference, click here. For younger children, this picture book is brilliant: Greta and the Giants, click here.
If you are from the US, you will need to click these links, to be taken directly to the books:
DK Find out: Climate Change, click here.
50 simple things kids can do to save the Earth, click here.
Greta Thunberg (Little People, Big Dreams), click here.
Greta Thunberg - No one is too small to make a difference, click here.
Greta and the Giants, click here.
Plastic pollution
Websites:
YouTube videos:
As always, I highly recommend you look through the suggested websites and videos yourself first to ensure their suitability for your child.
Books:
Here are my top 3 book recommendations:
If you are from the US, you will need to click these links, to be taken directly to the books:
Somebody swallowed Stanley, click here.
The Tale of a Toothbrush, click here.
What a Waste, click here.
Deforestation
Websites:
YouTube videos:
As always, I highly recommend you look through the suggested websites and videos yourself first to ensure their suitability for your child.
Books:
Here are my top 3 book recommendations:
If you are from the US, you will need to click these links, to be taken directly to the books:
Great Kapok Tree, click here.
The Explorer, click here.
Little Kids First Big Book of Rainforests, click here.
What can we do?
Pollination
Learn about pollination and important pollinators with your child. I personally love this diagram from the Eden Project: https://www.edenproject.com/learn/for-everyone/what-is-pollination-a-diagram-for-kids and the Wildlife Trust is an excellent website: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/savingbees - make sure you check out the free 'Bee action pack' too which is completely free to download and use!
Learning about the importance of pollination and pollinators is a great opportunity to do some hands on learning with child. You could dissect a flower and identify the different parts; go for a walk and try to spot pollinators doing their job; you could make a bug-friendly home in your garden (https://amzn.to/3twLlyL); plant some pollinator friendly flowers (https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/conservation-biodiversity/wildlife/plants-for-pollinators) or even care for your very own butterflies before releasing them (https://amzn.to/3stMhCM).
This was one of our beautiful, friendly butterflies that we cared for from tiny caterpillars and finally released into the garden. We do this activity every April and the children always look forward to it.
Plastic pollution
If you haven’t already, I would certainly watch ‘A Whale’s tale’ with your child. It is a wonderful, short animation with no words which makes it accessible for all ages. It shows the damage of plastic pollution to the ocean and its inhabitants, as well as highlighting the importance of helping them and passing the message on.
You could also do some litter picking or take part in a beach clean-up. Making sure to educate ourselves on the 4 R’s: Refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle. Why not check out our FREE three week topic on Oceans and Plastic pollution too?
This is just some of the rubbish we were able to collect in only 20 minutes at our local beach!
You could also do a plastic check in your home. In particular, look out for items which are ‘single-use’. Can you find alternatives that are more environmentally friendly? If you’re looking for ideas, why not check out these products that we use in our home:
If you use or find some great alternatives, I'd love to hear about them because we are always trying to improve!
Foodprint
Learn about the food we eat and where it comes from. A fun and eye opening activity is to print a world map (you can get one here https://www.freeworldmaps.net/) and when your food shopping arrives home, take the time to read the labels and mark on your map where your food has come from. You can then use a food miles calculator to see how many miles your food has travelled to reach you (https://www.foodmiles.com/food/calculator). This will no doubt lead you onto the discussion of sustainable eating, such as eating locally and / or seasonally.
Now is also a great time to discuss the importance of plant-based eating and how this can have a positive impact on the environmental issues facing the planet. While this is not something you have to commit to 100% of the time, a reduction in meat consumption and increase in plant-based eating will be beneficial for your health and the planet. Could you research some menu ideas or recipes together? Why not have a go at making some of them too. My children, particularly love to have a smoothie bowl for breakfast or lunch. So colourful and fun to make and super healthy and tasty to eat.
We make lots of different smoothie bowls. The smoothie often changes but the toppings are usually flax seed, chia seeds, oats, dried fruit and fresh fruit.
This particular one is a tropical smoothie with strawberries, kiwi and papaya on top of the usual toppings.
What to do on Earth Day?
I hope this blog has given you lots of ideas and activities to have a go at as a family. Earth Day is Thursday the 22nd of April. In honour of this, there will be many virtual events taking place that you may wish to become involved in. You can find out more by visiting the official website for Earth day: https://www.earthday.org/ There are also many other activity ideas on the website which are worth a look!
Earth day is just one day, but the impact it has on us, the learning and activity ideas are all things we can continue and carry on throughout the year(s). I am not suggesting you try to do all of these things in one day. I certainly won't be. Instead, we will be spending Earth day enjoying nature and appreciating the benefits it has to us all. We will continue to discuss the problems facing our planet and discuss further ways we can take action. So please, don't feel overwhelmed by this blog. Instead use it in the coming days and weeks ahead. I am hoping to raise my children in a way that makes them aware of these issues so that they make a positive impact daily.
I hope you have found this blog post useful, please get in touch if I can help any further and I’d love to hear some of your tips and recommendations; or ways in which you will be trying to make a positive change to restore our Earth.
Wondering Wildlings
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