Earth Day Activity Ideas For Ages 4+!
April 2021
A healthy planet is not just an option – it’s a necessity. Every April 22nd, we celebrate Earth day to raise awareness of our impact on the environment and to understand the importance of preserving the wonderful Earth we, and billions of life, forms call home.
We hope that some of our Earth Day activity ideas for little ones can help inspire an appreciation and respect for the environment. If you have suggestions for other activity ideas please share them with us! We’re all ears!
Idea #1: Sustainable Flowers with Clixo (Difficulty Level: Easy)
There’s no need to buy store-bought flowers when you can design and even wear your own bouquet of flowers!
As an added challenge, try to Google the native plants or flowers from other countries and regions and see if you can recreate your own Clixo version of these. You and your little one may stumble on a species that you’ve never seen or heard of before and learn something new about a different part of the world.
Idea #2: Animal Builds (Difficulty Level: Varies)
Hands down, the most popular Clixo builds have been of animals. Depending on the age of the child, an interesting activity would be to build “evolutions” of different animals – starting with flat 2D versions then transitioning slowly into 3D versions. 3D versions of animals can sometimes be intimidating to immediately jump into. So, starting with the 2D versions is a good way to practice observation skills as well as breaking down the whole animal into distinct body parts. Breaking things down into manageable pieces is a useful skill to practice at any age.
For instance, to make a rabbit build (pictured beside):
– The 2D version can start off on a flat surface with 2 Longy pieces for the floppy ears, 2 wheel pieces for the eyes, 2 Flap pieces for the whiskers, and a 3-dot piece for the mouth.
– The transition from 2D to 3D version of this rabbit can be created using the Ball build as the head and 2 folded Longy pieces for the ears.
– The full 3D version can involve using 10 Quad (X-shape) pieces for to create an oval shaped body and 2 large Flap pieces can be stuck in the front to act as the ears.
Idea #3: Water Builds (Difficulty Level: Medium)
With 70% of the Earth’s surface covered in water, it’s only natural to have a water-based activity! Give your old takeout containers a second life by reusing them in this project. Grab some Clixo pieces, wrap them around the takeout container and use it to create a custom boat that floats (Clixo pieces will sink on their own). This is fun way to talk about the 3 R’s (reuse, reduce, recycle) but also introduce the scientific concept of buoyancy.
Another water-based activity that is suited for younger kids can be to turn Clixo pieces into bubble wands! You can get detailed instructions for that project in this link.
Idea #4: Understanding Life Cycle (Difficulty Level: Advanced)
One of the coolest ways to use Clixo is to integrate them in little stop motion animations that show how things go from one state to another. In this particular example, we are introducing the concept of how a seed can germinate and become a flower. Some other ideas that you can try to incorporate are:
– Using Clixo pieces to explain the water cycle with different shapes as different types of precipitation
– Using Clixo pieces to explain an animal life cycle (eg. egg, tadpole, frog)
Explaining and illustrating life cycles can be an important milestone for little ones as it teaches them how to understand the world around them and how we are all interconnected in this circle of life.
Idea #5: Use Clixo to Re-tell a Story
This activity takes Activity Idea #4 (above) to the next level!
For his Pre-K class, NYC educator Mr. Andy did a Clixo version of the story, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” While reading the story, he used Clixo pieces to build the caterpillar, its food, and later its evolution into a full blown butterfly! Check out the link here to see how he did it.
Stories help children learn about concepts and are central to human cognition and communication. It also helps them develop empathy and cultivate imaginative thinking.
As an added challenge, instead of using Clixo to recreate an existing story, you and your little one can use Clixo to come up with your own characters, story, and adventure!
Sustainability is something we not only believe in, but we also strive to embody this in our company practices. Our pieces are proudly recyclable and our packaging has no plastic elements and is made of eco-friendly bamboo that is biodegradable.
Apart from the materials incorporated in our products, the design of our play system was intentionally designed with an appreciation for nature. Unlike other building toys that are rigid and geometrically shaped, we designed ours to be more fluid and more akin to the naturalistic shapes that are visible in nature. The play system as a whole is also designed to be more efficient and minimalist in the sense that a handful of pieces in a compact stack can yield a multitude of creations in versatile forms that can be hung, curved, looped around, or even worn.
We hope these ideas inspire you to see and celebrate the wonders of our planet in a fun, new way. Let’s help each other to build a better understanding and appreciation for the world around us, and together look for creative solutions to build a better home.