Channahon Park District celebrates Earth Day with eco friendly crafts

CHANNAHON – To celebrate Earth Day and Arbor Day, both which was last week, the Channahon Park District held a special event to get kids thinking about taking care of the world.

On Earth Day, April 22, kids did Earth-friendly activities at the Arrowhead Community Center, including a seed bomb from biodegradable clay, soil and seeds.

After it’s planted, the clay protects the seed and eventually breaks down, allowing the seed to grow, said Nicole Vaira, park district program manager.

The kids also got to make a poster about Earth Day using pompons to make a Truffula Tree, from the Dr. Seuss book “The Lorax,” which is about the environment. They also had the opportunity to watch “The Lorax” on a big screen or make a rainmaker, which sounds like rain when shaken.

The poster board was actually the back side of cut up cereal boxes and the rainmakers were made from recycled toilet paper and paper towel tubes, Vaira said.

The four Mendoza brothers, Matthew, Johnny, Tommy and Vinny, had a fun making seed bombs as they mashed together the clay and soil, but they weren’t so sure about the mud mess on their hands.

“Some boys are all ‘ewww’ and the girls think it’s so cool,” park district Recreation Coordinator Jackie O’Hara said.

The message behind the Earth Day activities didn’t fall on deaf ears. Kids were quick to offer ways to save the environment and recycle.

Georgia Sweeney, 9, said Earth Day is about saving energy and saving water. Her sister Gyllian, 6, said it was about taking care of the Earth.

Lindsey Jendro, 9, said it’s important to recycle because the landfills are quickly filling up.

“We want to try and throw away less,” she said.

Sisters Chloe and Payton Farrar use old cardboard to make beds and tables for their American Girls dolls at home and re-use their outgrown or old clothing to make stuffed animals and doll clothes.

Their mother Melissa Farrar calls it repurposing.

“[Chloe] makes amazing things for her American Girl dolls,” Melissa said.

While they all seemed to have the right idea of why they were making Earth-friendly crafts, they also had a good time doing them.

“I think [the seed bomb] was really fun,” said Georgia, who planted Sweet William flower seeds.

As each person left, they were able to take home one of several types of oak seedlings, courtesy of the Illinois Land and Water Conservation Fund, which donated all the trees.

Channahon Park District ordered more than 100 of them for the event, Vaira said.

This is the second year for the environmentally friendly program. Some made it a family event while several Girl Scout troops from the area made a project out of it.

Paytyn Johnstone of Troop 776 in Shorewood summed it up well.

“Earth Day is about taking care of the world and cleaning it up.”