Step-by-step tutorial
Step 1
Gather all materials. I know some people who have special trays for crafting, but we haven't invested in these yet. I always just use our cookie sheets. They're not as pretty, but they work just fine!
Step 2
I gave each of the kids a cookie sheet with a coffee filter on it. My kids used blue and green markers to color their coffee filters. As they colored, we talked about how the Earth looks blue and green from space because of the large bodies of water and land. I told the kids that most of the Earth is made up of water and encouraged them to use lots of blue. Older kids could even attempt to draw the continents on their filters.
Step 3
Once the kids were finished coloring, we used spray bottles to mist our coffee filters. This was my 2-year-old's favorite part and he ended up soaking his coffee filter. This made his colors blend into one shade, but that was okay for him. All of the kids enjoyed watching the colors blend together and fill up all the white space on their coffee filters.
Step 4
While the coffee filters dried, I traced the kids' hands onto black construction paper and cut them out. As we worked, we talked about different ways that we could help keep the Earth clean. My 4-year-old talked about how we turn off the water while we brush our teeth and my 3-year-old talked about how we had planted flowers. I also mentioned picking up trash and recycling. As we listed things, we remembered how we use reusable bags in our lunchboxes and reusable water bottles instead of plastic ones. The kids really enjoyed listing all the things we do to help the Earth. This would be a great time to work in a read-aloud about Earth Day, as well.
Step 5
Once the globes were dry, we glued the top of half a sheet of white construction paper. Then, the kids glued their hands to the bottom of the globes so it looked like they were holding the Earth.
Final result!
To finish off our projects, the kids dictated a sentence to me about how their hands can help the Earth. Most of them used things that we had talked about while they were coloring like recycling, planting, picking up trash, and saving water. As I wrote, the older kids helped me sound out words and identified the letters that they knew. They were so proud of their finished projects!
