Earth Day Projects for the Kiddos
With Earth Day on April 22nd coming up (even though every day really should be Earth Day), I thought, what a perfect theme for this week’s Quarantine projects. Especially because my kids were on “spring break” so their remote school work load was very light.
I checked in with our beloved babysitter, Kathleen and asked her if she could pull some ideas for me to review with Luke. She sent a great list…here’s what Luke and I decided on:
Eggshell Seedlings
Crayon Candles
{scroll below for full DIY, to do list, etc., for each project}
We started with the crayon candles which was a good thing because those take a longggggg time to make. I didn’t anticipate for how tedious this project was going to be when we started, but I will say, totally worth it in the end.
If you watched my instagram story this past weekend then you know that this project and end result didn’t exactly execute the beautiful way I dreamed it would, and that was cool. Because this was Luke’s project.
I am so proud of how he took on every step. He started by peeling crayons in colors he likes (maybe a little too much burgundy in the mix for my taste, but this was his candle and for mother Earth so no matter).
He went to my party closet with me to collect tea light candles. He used his favorite knife to chop up the candles and remove the wick to use in his crayon candle.
We zapped the wax in a dixie cup in batches. My Aunti Marissa says it’s better to melt the wax in a pot on the stove but I didn’t have the patience for that and the clean up for that sounded very…messy. Another thing I didn’t really think through before we started is that you have to wait 20 minutes after you pour in a color to let it set. If we did this again, we’d melt larger batches and focus on only 3-5 colors.
Anyway, the candle was adorable. Looked like we may have stuffed it with some refried beans with those brown layers but it made for a really fun project and nice for the environment.
Not only was this a fun project and great use of old tea lights and candles, but the candle was a functional part of our weekend. We used it to illuminate our dinner outdoors…keeping our lights turned off, saving energy and creating a fun ambiance in the process!
Also on our dinner tablescape was this jar of basil. We have been eating a ton of pasta and the tomato sauce that I buy comes in a really pretty mason jar. I always peel off the label when I’m done with a bottle and save it. I once heard that basil is a repellant for bugs, so I set out a bunch of basil that I had for a pop of color and doubling as an edible garnish for the pizzas I was serving.
Lastly, I set the table with some paper flowers. It’s been quite chilly here through April and it’s still going to be a few weeks before it warms up so I don’t have any fresh flowers in my garden just yet…but can’t wait till I do!
Speaking of flowers…this leads me to our next project: eggshell seedlings.
Luke loves cucumbers. I think he may be part cucumber.
He loves to grow them every summer in our vegetable garden. Luke wanted to plant cucumber seeds and instead of waiting a few weeks for it to warm up, I suggested the eggshell seedings because eggshells are so great for the earth.
This project was very easy. Luke did it 100% on his own and now he has the responsibility of watering his seedlings and will be in charge of planting them into the ground when the time is right.
Happy Earth Day friends! It’s been so fascinating to see how the environment has been correcting itself through out this pandemic which has sparked so many wonderful conversations in my home about how we can do our part to protect our earth.
Reduce the amount of water you use, recycle and plant plant plant. Just a few small ways you can help. Keep reading if you want to join the party and tackle Luke’s earth day projects.
Crayon Candles
Supplies:
Old crayons
Paraffin wax (use old tea lights)
Kid-friendly knife
Dixie paper cups
Candle wicks (could use from the tea lights, or buy new ones like these.)
Small glass container for candle (or use a cleaned-out glass container, a small mason jar, etc.)
Hot glue gun
Microwave
Instructions:
Peel the wrappers off your crayons and break them into smaller pieces. Separate colors, if you want.
Deconstruct tea lights and chop the wax into smaller pieces (save the wicks.)
Use a dab of hot glue to secure the wick to the bottom of your candle container.
Put tea light wax in dixie cup and microwave in 30-second intervals until melted.
Add a few crayon pieces to dixie cup and microwave in 30-second intervals until melted. Stir to combine waxes.
Carefully pour the wax (it’s hot!) into candle container.
For layered stripes, let wax layer cool for 15-20 minutes, then repeat process with a different color!
Keep going until you’re happy with how it looks!
Adapted from: Crayon Candle Example
I also learned about this project where you make rocks out of crayons from one of our followers on Instagram which looks really cool and a great use of all the extra crayons that we peeled and didn’t use in our candle.
Eggshell Seedlings
Supplies:
Eggshell halves
Soil
Seeds of choice
Egg carton
Spoon
Spritzer bottle filled with water
Instructions:
Save your eggshells from breakfast. (Rinse them out so they won’t get smelly.)
Using a spoon, add soil to the eggshells (they’ll be your seedlings’ little pots).
Add your seeds of choice to the soil, pushing them just under the surface with your finger.
Place your eggshell pots in an egg carton. Place them in a sunny windowsill.
Water them every day with your spritzer bottle.
Optional: Decorate your eggshells before adding soil, or use a marker to label them (“cucumbers,” “peppers,” etc.)
Adapted from: Eggshell Seedlings Example