Great Earth Day Craft Idea For Kids

What you'll need:

Empty quart sized cardboard milk carton
Scissors
String
Cord Hole punch or Pencil
Bird seed

How to make it:

Have an adult help you cut a hole in the bird feeder – it should be big enough so a bird could come and sit and eat the feed, but not too big or the carton will become unstable. Have an adult help you cut a hole using the hole punch in the top of the milk carton and put a string through the hole. Alternatively, you can poke a hole on either side of the flap at the top of the carton by poking a pencil through the top. Hang the cart on a tree branch and watch the birds enjoy their snack!

Tips:

A quart size carton works perfect as it isn't too large and holds a decent amount of food.You may choose to decorate the outside of the carton but keep in mind that it will be outside in the elements and decorations may wash off in the rain. Also, you wouldn't want the birds pecking at flaking paint!Check your bird feeder regularly and refill as needed.

Earth Day 2009

April 22nd is Earth Day and I thought it would be interesting to look up a bit about how it all came to be....The next few days I will also be talking a little about different ways we can all make our planet a little greener and bring awareness to a few common topics such as green house gasses, global warming and carbon footprints.


On April 22, 1970, the Environmental Teach-In held a nationwide day of environmental education and activism that it called Earth Day. The event was inspired and organized by environmental activist and U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin. Nelson wanted to show other U.S. politicians that there was widespread public support for a political agenda centered on environmental issues.

Nelson began organizing the event from his Senate office, assigning two staff members to work on it, but soon more space and more people were needed. John Gardner, founder of Common Cause, donated office space. Nelson selected Denis Hayes, a Harvard University student, to coordinate Earth Day activities and gave him a staff of volunteer college students to help. The event was wildly successful, sparking Earth Day celebrations at thousands of colleges, universities, schools and communities all across the United States.

An October 1993 article in American Heritage Magazine proclaimed, “…April 22, 1970, Earth Day was…one of the most remarkable happenings in the history of democracy… 20 million people demonstrated their support… American politics and public policy would never be the same again.” Following the Earth Day celebration inspired by Nelson, which demonstrated widespread grassroots support for environmental legislation, Congress passed many important environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, as well as laws to protect wilderness areas. The Environmental Protection Agency was created within three years after Earth Day 1970.

In 1995, Nelson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton for his role in founding Earth Day, raising awareness of environmental issues, and promoting environmental action.


No matter when you celebrate Earth Day, its message about the personal responsibility we all share to “think globally and act locally” as environmental stewards of planet Earth has never been more timely or important. Our planet is in crisis due to global warming, overpopulation, and other critical environmental issues. Every person on Earth shares the responsibility to do as much as they can to preserve the planet’s finite natural resources today and for future generations.

The Month Of April

April was the second month in an early Roman calendar, but became the fourth when the ancient Romans started using January as the first month. The Romans called the month Aprilis. It may come from a word meaning 'to open', or it may come from Aphrodite, the Greek name for the goddess of love.

Small animals that hibernate are usually coming out of their burrows in April. The birds fly back northward or they settle down to have their families. The bees and butterflies begin to gather nectar from the first flowers of the season.

In some parts of the world, it's planting time. In other parts, it's the harvest season. Professional baseball begins in April. Then the amateur athletes begin to go outside in the warm weather. Spring cleaning starts and people start mowing their yards again.

Special days celebrated in April begin with the first day of April, when children and grown-ups play jokes on one another. Arbor Day is a day for planting trees, and it is observed on various April days as well as Earth day (on my calender it's the 22nd. of this month) and the full moon this month, on the 9th, is called the Wind Moon.

*Daisy and the sweet pea are the flowers of the month.

*Diamond is the birthstone for April

*The Revolutionary War in America began on April 19, 1775, when British soldiers and American revolutionaries clashed in Massachusetts.

*William Shakespeare, the playwright, was born on April 23, 1564. He also died in Massachusetts in 1616.

*Feast day of the Patron Saint of England is April 23.

*The Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975, when South Vietnam surrendered.