Creation

Earth Day is the day that we celebrate, welll…. The Earth. And with Earth Day coming up on April 22nd, I figured it was the perfect time to revisit the Creation Story and celebrate the one who made the Earth.

Read: The Creation Story

We read the story everyday this week. Luckily I already knew my oldest loves this story, so getting her engaged was no problem. She especially loves the part where God made the animals. When we get to this page we will play a little “I-spy” and ask her to find different animals. Without fail she gleefully points and makes the animals sound.

Sensory: Playdough

Playdough! We love playdough in our house. It squishes, it molds, and it gives little hands the chance to explore their sculpting skills just as God sculpted the mountains and the seas. We bought some plastic animals from the dollar section at Target and we had all sorts of fun making animal footprints in our playdough.

*Bonus Activity

We totally would have done have done this if if hadn’t been the middle of winter. Take your baby or toddler out for a walk. If they can walk themselves, let them lead the way. Describe what you see. The leaves, the trees, a lady bug. Talk about everything. Also, take a bag with you. Let your toddler fill it with things they find interesting (i.e. fallen pine cones and leaves, rocks, sticks, etc.) Take the treasures home and put them in a box and this becomes a sensory activity they can do all week. Anytime they get restless, take the box out and let them explore.

Skills: Animal Noises

Since my baby girl was all about the animals, we took it and practiced our animal noises. When reading books with animals, I would point to each animal and ask her what sound it made. When playing with her toy farm animals I’d ask her what each one said. Whenever we ran across an animal she didn’t know we’d take the opportunity to introduce her to a new sound and she just thought it was so funny to mimic the noise back to me.

Arts and Crafts: Paper Plate World

We, of course, made a paper plate world. Take a paper plate, let them go wild with the paint (we do watercolors, because that’s just what my kiddo prefers, but finger paints would be a great option too). Then help them glue cotton ball “clouds” to their creation. When it dries you can write “God made the world” on it.

Snack: Creation Trail Mix

Now this I was super proud of. We made trail mix. I saw this idea on Pinterest, but couldn’t find a recipe I liked. All of them were all candy, and having my one year-old pumped full of sugar on a weekday did not sound like my idea of fun. So…I made my own. One ingredient for each day of creation, let them mix in what they want, and enjoy!

Creation Trail Mix

1. Day and Night: Yogurt-covered raisins
2. Sky and Sea: Popcorn, puffcorn, or marshmallow “clouds”
3. Land and Plants: Dried blueberries and craisins
4. Sun, Moon, and Stars: Dried Apricot “Suns”
5. Birds and Fish: Gold Fish
6. Animals and People: Animal Crackers or Teddy Grahams
7. God Rested: M&Ms

Media

This week we listened to Brand New Day by Yancy, but in Spanish (Nuevo Dia)

And our favorite Spanish kids group Pequeños Heroes with Generacion 12 just came out with a new video: Dios de Creacion

Finally, The Creation by James Weldon Johnson is a beautiful retelling of the creation story. Filled with beautiful illustrations of both children and creation, this book captivates the imagination.

How are you celebrating Earth Day with your littles? For more ideas check out: 5 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day with a Toddler