Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day is this week on Wednesday, April 22 and it is a day that serves as our annual reminder to slow down and appreciate our planet and all of its natural beauty. We want to share with little ones about our planet, the impact we have, how we can help and how to celebrate everything it has to offer. 

A walk around your backyard, neighborhood or park is a great way to appreciate all of the beauty around you and get some fresh air. We decided to make DIY binoculars to help get our little one in the mood to explore the backyard, see the birds and collect beautiful flowers, twigs and leaves which we then used to paint.

The binoculars helped set the mood and what child doesn't like to use their imagination to play pretend? We made the binoculars using toilet paper rolls, a good way to show little ones how to up-cycle the cardboard tubes, which are perfect for crafts and stickers we had at home! The binoculars can be decorated with anything you may have at home, think stickers, markers, pom poms, glitter, etc. 

Once our binoculars were ready (we painted them one day, set them to dry, and decorated the next), we went exploring to make our nature paint brushes which were then used to paint a canvas.    

Our nature paintbrushes were put together using rubber elastics and we then dipped our brushes in paint to create a beautiful canvas. 

Your little ones will have hours of fun with this easy activity and craft! Happy Earth Day!

DIY Binoculars - What You'll Need: 

- Toilet Paper Rolls (2)

- Paint

- Twine, string, ribbon

- Beads

- Hole punch

- Glue

Paint each toilet paper roll with desired color and let dry. Decorate with desired materials. Glue both rolls together, punch two holes on each side of the rolls. Tie a long piece of the twine, ribbon or string through the holes (make sure it will be long enough to go over your little one's head). You can decorate the string using beads if desired. Ready, set, EXPLORE! 

Painted Canvas with Nature's Brushes - What You'll Need: 

- Branches, twigs 

- Rubber elastics 

- Paint

- Canvas (you may also use any paper or surface you'd like) 

Head outside with a basket or bag to collect your supplies. Look for thin but strong branches or twigs, long pieces of grass, flowers with stems, and anything else you may find and like. Secure the leaves and flowers to the ends of the twigs or branches by wrapping the rubber elastics around them carefully (you don't want to crush the delicate flowers). Now you're ready to paint! Place your paint colors on a plate and dip your nature paint brushes and dab, brush or swirl on your canvas. Have fun! Note all of the different textures and strokes the flowers and leaves give when used as paintbrushes. 

Have fun and share with us! #LOCreativeCircle #mylittleowly