In just 11 days, on April 22nd, it will be Earth Day. I was curious as to how Earth Day started, and did a little bit of research. The first official Earth Day was in 1970. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin had been trying to get a day recognized about the environment for most of the 60s. He finally saw it happen on April 22, 1970. Twenty million people participated that year, and it has grown in size every since. The first International Earth Day was celebrated in 1990. Earth Day is now the largest, most celebrated international event with more than a billion people from 192 countries participating.
Earth Day reminds us to respect the Earth we live on. One of my favorite handmade gifts I have received from one of my children was the Earth bead necklace Kara made in kindergarten. Since that time we have made many more beads. In 3rd grade we made one for everyone in her class for a special interest day that was held on Earth Day.
An Earth Day necklace is not hard to make. You just need a little bit of blue, green and white clay. Start with the blue, and shape it into about the size of a quarter. Use smaller amounts of green and place them randomly on the blue.
Roll into a ball, and then wash your hands! The blue and green clay coloring on your hands will discolor the white clouds if you don't wash before the next step. Place 3 or 4 small white pieces to the bead, and then reshape the ball so it is smooth again
It will look something like this.
Make a hole through a bead with a bamboo skewer or something like it. Remove the skewer before putting in the oven. Bake in the oven at 270 degrees for 15 minutes.
Once the bead has cooled string on your favorite ribbon. There are several variations you can try. You can make a bracelet by stringing several smaller Earth beads on a stretchy cord. Add pony beads or use different types of string/ribbon for the necklace. Whatever you decide, it is a great reminder take care of our Earth.
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