Need an Earth Day craft to do with your students? Look no further! I’ve teamed up with Astrobrights Papers to bring you a simple project and writing activity that is so sweetly perfect for young children. This paper plate mosaic is simple to prep, looks so vibrant and the FREE Earth Day Promise writing page easily integrates science (or social studies) with language arts. And the fact that it looks so stinkin’ cute is just the icing on the cake!
Gather and Prepare Materials
Before you begin this craft with your students, you will want to gather a few basic materials. This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience.
black paper dinner plates
Martian Green Astrobrights paper
Lunar Blue Astrobrights paper
glue sticks
scissors
ribbon
crayons
pencils
Martian Green Astrobrights cardstock (optional)
The bulk of the prep involves cutting the green and blue paper into squares for the mosaic. I used .75″ paper squares for this kindergarten project, but it could easily be differentiated for other age groups. Preschool students could use 1″ paper squares and .5″ squares would make a suitable challenge for first graders.
You will also want to copy the “Earth Day Promise” cards onto Martian Green paper or cardstock. (I prefer the durability of cardstock.) You can find a link to download the “Earth Day Promise” cards for free at the end of this post.
Paper Plate Mosaic Earth Day Craft
Once the project is prepped, the fun can begin! Provide each student with a black paper plate, the pre-cut paper squares, and a glue stick. A little bit of glue is all it takes on each square, then the squares can be placed onto the paper plate.
The nice thing about this project is that there is no right or wrong way to place the mosaic tiles. I gave my young friend, Zoe, a little guidance and explained that it might look nice if the pieces of paper were really close together without actually touching. I also had her visualize the globe in her classroom and how there were big areas of land (continents) with water around them so it might be cool if she put big areas of land on her plate and just put water all around all of those green land areas. But ultimately, it was her project.
Every child learns at their own rate and if someone isn’t developmentally about to recreate a “perfect” Earth mosaic, that’s just fine!
Gradually, Zoe was able to fill her paper plate with paper mosaic tiles. She even trimmed a few of the squares so they would fit better. You can see the scraps from the trimmings on the table around her plate.
“My Earth Day Promise” Writing Response
As much as I love an excuse to make a cute craft with my students, I realize the importance of Earth Day and my responsibility to educate them about ecology. After reading some favorite Earth Day books, it’s important to ask students to reflect on what they can do right now to care for the Earth. After brainstorming some ways that everyone can make a difference, have each child write their own Earth Day promise.
Zoe’s promise: to pick up litter.
Zoe’s “Earth Day Promise” sign featured an image of a little girl holding the world in her hands. The free download for this resource contains a boy version and a girl version. (You can find the freebie at the bottom of this post.)
Students can personalize the promise by coloring in the graphic on their writing sheet.
Completing the Earth Day Craft
Once the writing response and Earth Day mosaic are complete, punch a hole in the the plate and at the top of the “Earth Day Promise” page and attach the two items with a ribbon.
The completed project so vibrant. I love how the colors of the Martian Green and Lunar Blue papers just POP against the black paper plate. Astrobrights does it again!
Free “Earth Day Promise” Writing Page
I’m thrilled to share the “Earth Day Promise” writing page with you for FREE. It’s the perfect, simple writing activity for your Earth Day studies. Just click the image below and both versions of the printable will be delivered to your inbox.
Have a WONDERFUL Earth Day with your students.
Together, I know we really can save the Earth.
This is a sponsored post. I received payment, trade and/or products from Astrobrights in exchange for promoting.
However, all opinions stated are my own and I only promote brands and products that I love.
Discover More Earth Day Crafts
I have made several Earth Day crafts in my kindergarten classroom over the years. If you’re looking for even more Earth Day project ideas, click any of the images below to read more.
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