Today, 22nd April, is Earth Day. This is a day where we try to do things to protect our environment. Since the weather is lovely at the minute, why not try some of these activities below at home to celebrate Earth Day this week.

1. Bird Houses

Bird houses can be made from lots of simple household objects and decorated to look appealing to birds and humans alike. Try to hang your bird houses high of the ground or on a high outdoor shelf. Try to place a small amount of food inside. People always think birds will only eat specific bird seed you buy in shops but birds enjoy lots of foods you’d find in your house such as apples, raisins, eggshells, cooked pasta or rice and, most obviously, any types of seeds or small nut.

Use an old welly, milk carton or cardboard box to make a birdhouse.

2. A Bug Hotel

This is a much bigger project than number one and would need adult help and supervision. So what is a bug hotel and why would we want to have one anywhere near our home?

A bug hotel provides a place of shelter for insects in the cold winter months. But the best time to start is in spring or summer, so now would be a perfect time. Ok. So we give shelter to the insects; but why do we want insects anyway? Let’s face it, they just creep and buzz around and annoy everyone to say nothing of the plants they eat.

That also is quite true; but the main reason we need insects is because they pollinate plants and if we didn’t have them then 80% of all the plants we use for food would disappear.

A bug hotel is made up of sticks, bamboos, bits of bricks and timber.  In fact you can use any old bits of things like pots or branches or cardboard rolled up and lots of other things to make a hotel in your own garden. The insects will naturally find their way into it as they like dark squashed places.

Try your best and even a small bug hotel will attract lots of visitors.

3. Bird Feeders

So number one and number two require a lot of work. You want to do something but don’t have as much time. Why not try to make a bird feeder or two? All you need is a couple of plastic bottles, some old pencils and some of the foods listed above in number one. Pierce two pencils through the bottles so the birds have somewhere to perch. Pierce other small holes above the perches where the birds can access the food inside. Fill the bottles with food and hang the feeders from a branches on a tree or a clothesline etc. Voila!

4. Bee Watering Hole

With the weather we’re having we are starting to see lots of bees around. Bees are so important and do countless jobs to help us, especially pollinating flowers and plants. Bees are sometimes seen as dangerous but as long as we don’t scare bees they won’t want to bother us at all. To make a watering hole for bees, just use an old basin, some rocks, water and a few colourful flowers to attract the bees. Place the watering hole a little away from your house so the bees aren’t too close.

ENJOY!