Earth Day Cupcakes

* Read on to see how we made these fun Earth Day cupcakes! *

Things have changed so much from when I was a child. The kids wear helmets now when they ride bikes, chat with their friends on tablets and have easy access to information on almost any subject in the world with just a few clicks.

Because their way of life is all that they’ve known, they forget that not so long ago, things were very different. Like recycling. I remember crushing cans for recycling when I was young, but that was the extent of our recycling, and it was fairly progressive for the time.

Now we can recycle almost everything we use and it is second-nature to do so. Our small town has recycling cans alongside the trash cans in the public places, so our kids have become used to seeing them every day.

But not all families are as familiar with recycling as we’ve become. We are lucky to live in an area that has an extensive recycling program. Over the years we have learned what we can recycle and re-use. Since Earth Day is coming up, we thought it was the perfect time to share some recycling tips!

How to Get Kids to Recycle:
Get kids interested. Let the kids help make fun Earth Day cookies like the ones we made or draw a picture of the Earth. Talk with them about how much we love the Earth and want to take care of it.

Make Recycling Fun:
Let the kids play a game as they learn to recycle. Set up a mini-basketball hoop above the recycling bin so kids can score as they toss in bottles. Or set up sorting stations to let kids go through the recycling and put each recyclable in its proper bin.

Share an Example of Recycling:
Explain to your children that every bottle or can that gets dropped into a recycling bin can be remade and reused as something else. Use an empty plastic bottle in a craft project and explain how bottles can be reused for other purposes just like recyclables are.

Easy Earth Day Cupcakes

You will love this fun way to get your kids excited about Earth Day! They’re easy to make and would make a great treat for your child’s friends at school while you talk about the importance of recycling.

Ingredients

Box white cake mix
eggs, oil, water needed for cake mix
white frosting
red spray icing

Directions

Prepare cake mix batter as instructed on the box. Divide the cake batter into two bowls. Color one half of the batter green and the other half blue. Pour a mixture of blue and green batter into each cupcake liner, then bake according to the box instructions.

Slice the top of the cupcakes off, then use a paring knife or small heart-shaped cutter to cut a heart shape out of the cupcake top. Fill the heart shape with red spray icing. Replace the top of the cupcake and frost with white frosting.

Enjoy!