Earth Day is one of my favorite holidays! Not only do I encourage teachers and schools to use eco-friendly art materials and supplies whenever possible, but I love incorporating natural elements into the art projects I share with children. That’s why Earth Day activities that involve art are my favorite to do with children and young artists.
Earth Day—held annually on April 22—marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement that started in 1970. Every year, nearly 1 billion people in more than 190 countries come together to protect our environment and celebrate everything Mother Nature provides us.
In honor of Earth Day, I’ve decided to share 5 earth-friendly art projects that Montessori students of all ages can do. These are some Earth Day activities I’ve done with children at some of the largest Earth Day celebrations on the West Coast.
Project 1: City of Trash
“City of Trash” is a collaborative recycle project that I designed for one of the largest annual Earth Day events held in Balboa Park in San Diego, Calif. It’s a way to show children how much trash and waste one household (or classroom) can produce in a week and to start instilling eco-friendly shopping habits.
This project should be planned a few days to a week in advance. Start by challenging students to save their trash throughout the week—everything that would normally go into the trash or recycle bin, minus perishable items. They can bring in a bag of trash from home, or you can set up a collection bin in your classroom.
Supplies:
- Collected trash (i.e., cardboard, boxes, and anything that is non-biodegradable or that commonly goes into the recycle bin)
- Strong scissors
- Hot glue gun, set at a low temperature
- Non-toxic paints
- Paint brushes
- Duct tape or a strong clear tape
How to:
- After collecting a week’s worth of garbage, your class will be ready to start constructing City of Trash. Keep on the lookout for an extra-large cardboard box, you’ll recycle this to be a flat canvas to build onto. If you prefer, each student can use a smaller cardboard to create their own scene, rather than a large, collaborative, classroom-effort cityscape.
- Guide students and offer simple ideas of building features usually found around city landscapes.
- Allow them to construct the elements of their city using the collected materials.
- Once everything is glued down to the cardboard, have students paint in details to finish the cityscape.
Project 2: Sticks n’ Stones
This is my signature earth-friendly art activity; it made waves around San Diego communities and has traveled to major Green Festivals, Earth Day events, museums, and educational venues all over the world.
I was looking to create Earth Day activities that kids would enjoy and were also 100% sustainable for the environment. I searched for the most earth-friendly surfaces to paint, found natural elements like rocks and sticks, then searched for the most earth-friendly paints to paint them with. This art project was actually very instrumental in the founding of my non-toxic, kid-safe, earth-friendly art supply company, Nature of Art for Kids!
The idea for this earth-friendly art project is simple—use earth’s natural resources as a canvas for creating beautiful art!
Supplies:
- Kid-safe acrylic paint
- Paint palette (paper plates or a cardboard egg carton will also work)
- Paint brushes
- Napkins
- Water jar
- Rocks (I prefer river rocks because they seem to have the flattest surface to paint an image on, but any shape will work)
- Sticks
How to:
- Brush dirt off sticks and wipe rocks clean by washing them in water (completely dry rock before painting).
- Prepare a palette with a variety of paint colors.
- Let students paint their rocks and sticks; remind them that painting one layer at a time will give them best results. Set aside their “canvas” for a few minutes to dry before they add a new layer of color.
- Let their rocks and sticks dry overnight or until the end of class. They’ll dry best when left in direct sunlight.
Project 3: Paper Roll Shark
A simple recycled paper roll can transform into a shark art project kids can’t wait to sink their teeth into! It is a inexpensive Montessori art project that is easily manageable for students in both Plane 1 and Plane 2.
Best yet, this project meets all of my earth-friendly art criteria: recycled paper rolls are re-used, the project is easy for young kids to create, and many species of sharks are on the endangered animal list (which makes it a great topic to study).
Supplies:
- Recycled Paper Rolls
- Kid-safe paints (acrylic works best on paper rolls, giving a nice opaque coverage)
- Googly eyes, fabric scraps, or buttons
- Wide paint brush or sponge brush
- Writing utensils for tracing (pencils, pens, markers, etc.)
- Paint palette (paper plates or a cardboard egg carton will also work)
- Water jar
- Napkins
- Scissors
- Glue
- Shark template
How to:
- Cut out shark template pattern.
- Place template on top of flattened paper roll and trace.
- Cut along the tracing lines and unflatten the paper roll, popping it back into a roll shape.
- Use scraps from the roll to make a fin shape.
- Glue fins on with glue or a glue gun. (I’ve found that it’s easier and I get sturdier results if I cut a slit in the roll, place the fin inside, and glue around it to secure it in place.)
- Paint and embellish the shapes to look like a shark or other swimming creature.
- Cut small triangle shapes out of scraps from the roll or white paper for the teeth. Students can also paint or draw these onto their roll using white paint.
- Glue buttons, fabric scraps, or googly eyes onto the roll for the eyes.
Note: If younger students will be completing this project, cut rolls out ahead of time.
Project 4: Recycle Cardboard Canvas
Did you know that one ton of recycled cardboard saves 390 kWh hours of electricity, 46 gallons of oil, 6.6 million Btu’s of energy, and 9 cubic yards of landfill space!?
Cardboard and paper waste make up 41% of the municipal solid waste stream. Recycling cardboard takes 24% less energy and produces 50% less sulfur dioxide than making cardboard from raw materials.
Painting on cardboard is earth-friendly and kids love it! I’ve hosted many community collaborative painting projects with large TV cardboard boxes with great creative results.
Besides using it as a canvas for flat painting, cardboard can be used for mixed media projects (like City of Trash) and dioramas.
Supplies:
- Cardboard (from paper rolls, egg cartons, any-sized boxes, etc.)
- Kid-safe acrylic paint (tempera paint also works, but will not have an opaque finish)
- Paint brushes (all sizes)
- Paint palette (paper plates or a cardboard egg carton will also work)
- Water jar
- Napkins
- Scissors
- Decorative objects (glitter, fabric scraps, straws, string, bubble wrap, buttons, etc.)
- Glue
How to:
- Allow kids to experiment with how they want to use their cardboard as a canvas. Some may want to paint it as a 3D object others may want to cut open the boxes so that they can create their art on a flat canvas.
- Fill the palette with different color paints.
- Paint, cut out, and decorate the cardboard.
- Because cardboard is so sturdy, students can revisit these art projects and paint over them or add to them at later dates.
Project 5: Veggie Paint
Over the years of creating Montessori activities, many teachers and parents have asked me what the safest paint is for their young students. I always tell them the absolute safest is homemade veggie paint! It’s made straight from the vegetables found in your garden—or grocery store. This type of paint is especially safe for toddlers who are still in a phase of putting everything into their mouths.
Natural veggie paints are generally made with ingredients like fruits, vegetables, flowers, seeds, and leaves. Usually this means natural pigments are extracted from these types of vegetable plants. Natural, organic pigments have been used for thousands of years—even in cave drawings!
Supplies:
- Bunch of dark, pigment-rich veggies (e.g. kale, beets, carrots, etc.)
- Food processor, juicer, or blender
- Water
- Strainer
- Cornstarch (optional)
- Jar or paint container
- Paint brushes
- Paper (watercolor paper works best for paint with a thin consistency)
How to:
- Blend your choice of vegetable with water in a food processor or blender—three parts water, to one part vegetables. If you’re using a juicer, you can skip adding water.
- Strain the juice so you have only liquid, removing thick lumpy parts.
- If you want a thicker paint, add cornstarch until it reaches your desired consistency.
- Paint away!
Note: Veggie paint can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
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