For Kids: Earth Day Collage

Who doesn’t love to rip up paper? Not only is it a fine motor building activity, the act of ripping paper itself can be calming and help ease anxiety. This fun activity by I Heart Crafty Things can also give you a chance to talk to your children about upcycling, reusing items we might normally dispose of.

Supplies you will need:

• cardboard

• 10-inch cardboard cake board (optional)

• magazines

• pencil

• glue

• mini wooden sticks (optional)

• paper tags (optional)

Directions:

1. Start by cutting out a piece of cardboard for your background about 12-inches by 14 inches. For our circle we used a cardboard cake board but you could also just cut a circle out of cardboard that is about 10-inches in diameter.

2. Use your pencil to freehand part of the world onto your circle. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Kids can even look at a map and do this step themselves.

3. Look through your old magazines and tear out pages that have lots of black, green and blue on them.

4. To start your collage, trace your circle Earth onto your cardboard background then remove it. Tear little pieces of the black colored magazine pages and glued them around your cardboard backing, leaving the circle empty in the middle to put your Earth on.

5. Next get started on your Earth. Your kiddos might need help getting the blue pieces to line up around the countries; let them know it doesn’t need to be perfect. After outlining the countries with the blue torn magazine pages, add glue in the rest of the water areas and finish putting the blue pieces in place.

6. Finished filling in the Earth with the green “land” paper using the same process.

7. After adding the green land pieces, trim around the Earth to cut off any pieces that are hanging off the ends, then glue it onto your cardboard backing. If you want to get creative, use mostly white paper to create “shooting stars!”

If you want to take this lesson a step farther you can talk about how big our Earth is and how small your town or city is when we compare it to the size of the Earth. Find your home on a map or globe and then make a little flag or marker to mark it on your Earth (poke a little hole in the spot with a small screw driver, fill it with school glue and place your marker).

If you have family or friends that lived in different parts of the world – or a military parent that is deployed – you can take some time to make little flags to mark those special locations.

Have fun and happy Earth Day!