Celebrate our only planet on April 22nd by integrating some Earth-friendly activities for kids’. Plus, they’ll help add food and healthy living practices into your daily routine.
Don’t stop there; enjoy some of these Earth Day activities for kids throughout the year!
1. Visit Your Local Farmer’s Market
To start a list of Earth Day activities for kids, take the family to a local farmer’s market. Meet the farmers and encourage your children to ask questions!
While you’re there, try some fun activities:
- Have your children find fruits and vegetables that make up the rainbow.
- Sample items they are not familiar with.
- Choose one unfamiliar fruit or vegetable to take home and learn to cook it!
- Check out the Super Crew books for more fresh produce-themed fun.
After you visit, make it a goal to shop at a farmer’s market once this month – discover 10 reasons why you’ll love the farmer’s market.
2. Plant a Garden or Get Composting!
There are many fun ways to grow your own food and many benefits. Learn how gardening does more than just yield crops!
- Plant a garden – on a window, balcony, or your yard. If you’re looking for tips on what to plant, I recommend herbs, strawberries, and zucchini – but you choose what you like the most. Check out these tips on how to start a garden.
- Look up composting initiatives in your area and get involved!
- If you have the space, try making a worm bin! This composting method can be a science experiment and composting effort.
If you start a composting project and a garden, you can use the compost in your garden. If not, you could get involved in a local community garden or other program that accepts food scraps. Gardening and composting are great ways to get involved.
3. Explore Local Foods
Take your family on a tour of your local farm. This Earth Day activity for kids can have a lasting effect on your family’s health and connection with your community!
After you visit, try to eat more locally grown foods or foods grown within 200 miles. One easy way is to join your local farm’s CSA, or “Community Supported Agriculture.” That way, you can get local food while supporting local small farmers—a win-win!
4. Change Up Your Commute
Are you going out to lunch or a movie as a family? Try riding your bikes to the restaurant or theater. Wear helmets and stay on bike paths or sidewalks to stay safe while biking. Choosing not to use cars helps the planet by reducing your carbon emissions.
If safe, try walking or biking to school, sports, or after-school activities. Or, if your neighborhood isn’t built for walking, try taking public transportation or organizing a carpool!
5. Get into Nature
Take a family hike in a new park to explore nature’s beauty. Or, invite your neighbors and play a fun game of volleyball in your backyard or local park. On your hike, bring some bird seed, go to a local pond, and feed the birds. Admire other living things and help your children identify the types of birds they see.
While you’re outside enjoying nature, do the outdoors a favor and pack a trash-free lunch! “Leave No Trace” is an important part of spending time outdoors, and having less trash to carry can help you do just that!
6. Read a Book
Read some garden-themed or earth-friendly books with your children. If your kids tend to get restless while you’re reading, have them draw pictures of what they’re thinking while you read! Then, go outdoors and have some fun gardening with your little ones.
7. Invest in the Planet
Teaching your children about earth-friendly habits makes it easy for them to be eco-friendly as they grow! Try some of these tips.
- Purchase a metal reusable water bottle without a plastic coating liner for each family member. Have everyone bring it wherever they go, and keep refilling that bottle throughout the day. Try to maintain this practice for the rest of the school year.
- Invest in reusable glass or stainless steel lunch containers to reduce your reliance on single-use plastic. Reducing your use of plastic bags and containers protects the environment and your health!
- Get your children involved in budgeting, shopping, and meal planning! Discover how saving money on your food budget helps the earth.
- While you’re at it, discuss how reducing food waste is good for the earth and the family’s budget.
By using Earth Day to start new, sustainable habits, you’ll also be doing good for the planet for the rest of the year!
8. Get Cooking!
The kitchen can be eco-friendly, too! Try out some of our favorite kitchen-based Earth Day activities for kids.
- Try going meatless once a week; it can be any day of the week that is convenient for you! Incorporating meat-free meals can be good for your body and the planet! See our bean and enchilada recipe, plant-based protein sources for teen athletes, and plant-based sources for everyday choices.
- Make an earth fruit platter with grapes for the land, blueberries for the water, and cottage cheese for the polar caps.
- Have your children help you plan a meal made with locally sourced items.
- While cooking, talk about food waste and how you can manage cooking scraps by composting! If you have space, start composting for yourself, or if your city provides curbside composting, sign up for a bin!
Cooking as a family is a great way to teach children about the earth and how we interact with it.
9. Learn About Seasonal Eating
Learn about the different foods that grow in each region and discuss how far our food travels; see the Super Crew South West Seasonal Guide, the Super Crew North East Seasonal Guide, and the Super Crew Midwest Seasonal Guide.
Once you know what foods are in your area, try to eat more when they’re in season and fewer when they’re not! Seasonal eating can be a fun way to get creative in the kitchen and try new dishes.
10. Have fun with the Super Crew!
Have fun with these Super Crew free earth-friendly printable activities or Earth Day coloring pages. These Earth Day activities for kids will help you learn about healthy foods and habits in a fun and exciting way.
We hope you enjoyed our roundup of our favorite Earth Day activities for kids. However you choose to celebrate Earth Day, we hope you have a terrific time!
This post was updated March 2025 from its previous publication date in April 2019.
