Earth Day Activities for Kids: Fun Food, Gardening & Nature Ideas

Q: What are easy Earth Day activities for kids?

Planting seeds, regrowing food scraps, cooking simple recipes, and nature crafts.

Q: What can kids make for Earth Day?

Dirt pudding cups, cupcakes, and garden-themed snacks.

Celebrate Earth Day on April 22 with simple gardening projects, fun food ideas, and creative activities kids can do at home, in the classroom, or at cooking camp. These Earth Day activities help children connect food, nature, and caring for the planet in a hands-on way.

Earth Day activities for kids with gardening and cooking

On This Page

Growing Projects for Earth Day
More Easy Earth Day Activities
Dirt Pudding Cups Recipe
Dirt Cupcakes Recipe
Earth Day Craft Idea
Teaching Kids About Earth Day Through Cooking
Earth Day FAQ

Kids Cooking Activities Teaching Materials

Teaching kids to cook? Save time with ready-made lesson plans used by parents and teachers. Browse teaching materials →

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Why Earth Day and cooking go well together: Kids can plant something, grow something, make a simple snack, and talk about how food comes from the earth. It is an easy way to mix cooking, science, nature, and life skills into one fun theme.

4 Growing Projects for Earth Day

Planting something is one of the best Earth Day activities for kids. It gives children a chance to care for something living and see where food begins. If planting a tree is not practical, try one of these smaller-space gardening ideas instead.

Plant Seeds in Recycled Containers

Reuse egg cartons, yogurt cups, or plastic cups for a simple seed-starting project. This is an easy way to talk about both recycling and gardening.

See more ideas on what to plant with your kids.

Regrow Food from Scraps

Show kids how kitchen scraps can become new plants. Green onions, celery, lettuce, and carrots are fun foods to try regrowing.

Learn how to grow food from scraps.

Plant a Simple Herb Garden

Herbs are a great Earth Day project because they grow well in small pots and can be used later in cooking. Basil, parsley, mint, and chives are good starter choices.

Try starting an herb garden with kids.

Grow Grass in a Recycled Box

Turn a cereal box or other recycled cardboard into a fun planting project. Decorate the outside first, then line the inside, add soil, and sprinkle in grass seeds.

Radish seeds grow quickly, and grass seeds can create a fun “hair” effect for a crafty Earth Day project.

More Easy Earth Day Activities for Kids

Nature Color Hunt

Go outside and look for greens, browns, blues, and flower colors in nature. Younger kids can sort leaves, rocks, or petals by color.

Make an Earth Snack Plate

Use blueberries, kiwi, cucumber, grapes, or other fruits and vegetables in green and blue colors to create an Earth-themed snack plate.

Start a Compost Talk

Even if you do not compost yet, show kids which kitchen scraps can go back to the earth and which foods should not be wasted.

Recycled Container Garden

Save cans, cartons, or cups for planting. Let kids decorate the containers first, then add soil and seeds for a reusable garden activity.

Dirt Pudding Cups Recipe

Dirt pudding cups are one of the easiest Earth Day food ideas for kids. They are quick to make, fun to decorate, and fit the gardening theme perfectly.

Ingredients

3 cups prepared chocolate pudding
12 chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed
6 to 12 gummy worms
6 clear plastic cups

Directions

Spoon chocolate pudding into clear cups.
Sprinkle crushed chocolate sandwich cookies over the top to look like dirt.
Add gummy worms on top so they look like they are crawling through the dirt.
Serve right away or chill until ready to eat.

Easy variation: Add a few green sprinkles or a mint leaf on top to make the cups look even more like a tiny garden.

Dirt Cupcakes Recipe

Dirt cupcakes with gummy worms for Earth Day

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup water
1/3 cup canola oil
3 eggs
1 box chocolate cake mix with pudding
3/4 cup chocolate frosting
24 gummy worms

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Place paper cupcake liners into a muffin tin and lightly spray the liners with nonstick cooking spray.
Pour the water into a mixing bowl. Whisk in the canola oil.
Add the eggs and whisk until well combined.
Add the cake mix and stir until blended well.
Fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 full of batter.
Bake for about 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool the cupcakes on a wire rack for about 20 minutes.
Use the handle of a wooden spoon to make a small hole in the center of each cupcake.
Place the frosting into a baggie, snip off one corner, and squeeze frosting into the holes.
Press one gummy worm into each cupcake so part of the worm shows on top.

Variation: Instead of cupcakes, you can also turn this into one larger dirt cake for a party or classroom celebration.

Earth Day Craft Idea: Salt Dough Ornaments

For a non-food activity, try making Earth Day salt dough ornaments. Kids can roll, shape, bake, and paint their creations while talking about nature, recycling, and the planet. Here is a dough ornament recipe.

Teaching Kids About Earth Day Through Cooking

Earth Day is a natural fit for cooking lessons because food connects directly to the earth. Kids can learn that vegetables grow in soil, herbs can be planted in small spaces, scraps can sometimes be regrown, and cooking at home can help reduce waste.

Cooking can help teach kids about:

where food comes from
how plants grow
using what you have wisely
reducing food waste
caring for the environment through everyday choices

Grow and Cook Theme Cooking Camp

If you want to expand this theme into a larger lesson or camp idea, a grow-and-cook theme works well for spring classes, homeschool activities, and life skills programs.

Earth Day Activities for Kids FAQ

What are easy Earth Day activities for kids?

Easy Earth Day activities for kids include planting seeds, growing herbs, regrowing vegetables from scraps, making dirt pudding cups, creating Earth-themed crafts, and doing simple outdoor nature activities.

What can kids make for Earth Day?

Kids can make simple Earth Day foods such as dirt pudding cups, dirt cupcakes, garden-themed snacks, and recipes using fresh herbs or vegetables.

How do you teach Earth Day through cooking?

Cooking teaches Earth Day concepts by helping kids understand where food comes from, how plants grow, how to reduce waste, and how everyday food choices connect to the environment.

What can children plant for Earth Day?

Children can plant seeds in recycled cups, start an herb garden, regrow vegetables from scraps, or grow grass in decorated recycled boxes.