I would like to think that I am bringing my boys up in a manner which encourages them to care about the world around them. With this in mind, this year we will be taking part in Earth Hour. For those of you that have not heard of Earth Hour before if when millions of people around the world switch off their lights for one hour to show they care about our planet and demonstrate against climate change. Last year 178 countries took part.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Earth Hour which takes place at 8.30pm on Saturday 25th March 2017, at this time iconic landmarks across the UK will be switching off their lights, from Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, to Brighton Pier and Edinburgh Castle.
Monkey and I have been preparing by making our own elephant lanterns out of old milk bottles, glue and tissue paper. This is a great fun activity for little ones to try and as you make them it gives you a chance to discuss why its so important we support WWF in this pledge.
To make your own you will need:
- Clean 2 pint milk bottle
- Tissue paper of various colours
- White glue and applicator
- Cellotape
- Pair of goggle eyes
- LED candle
Step 1: Cut around the middle of the milk bottle at the base of the handle(where it meets the bottle). I then trimmed the handle a little so that the trunk was a couple of centimetres shorter.
Step 2: Cut two ear shapes from the rest of the bottle and secure these with cellotape on either side of the bottle.
Step 3: This is the fun bit – cover the bottle with glue and multi coloured tissue paper. Monkey decided that it reminded him of Elmer. I think it took us about 20 minutes to do this bit.
Step 4: Once the tissue paper was dry we added the eyes
The only thing which is left to do is to add the LED candle underneath when it gets dark. It took us around 30 minutes to make one of these from start to finish. I think it turned out really well and Monkey had a great time doing it.
If you would like to get involved in Earth Hour you can find this tutorial and all about how to make your Earth Hour matter on the Earth Hour Website. They also have an ideas pack which you can download that includes some ideas on how to protect the planet as well as some suggestions on how you could spend that hour:
- Reading by torchlight under the duvet
- Sponsored silence
- Night-time wildlife walk
- Have a picnic under the stars
- Toast marshmallows on the fire pit
- Host a star gazing party
We will be turning our lights out on the 25th March at 8.30pm will you? If you decide to take part make sure you sign up at Earth Hour Website
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20 Responses
Aww that’s brilliant! Great way of recycling and making something the children can play with too 🙂 #BloggerClubUK
Helen x
The lantern is fab, looks really good. I’m guessing using the torch on my mobile phone for the hour would be classed as cheating lol?
Debbie
This is such a lovely thing to do – especially to make our children aware of what is going on in the world! I hope to do the same when my little one is a bit older. #BloggerClubUK
This looks like great fun, I love getting the kids involved in crafts! #BloggerClubUK
I love these! I’m going to make them just for myself I think! Entirely aware I’m missing the larger point but I’m getting a bit carried away thinking of the cuteness #bloggerclubuk
Ooh these are cute. The WWF centre is in Woking which is quite near us but I havent been yet #bloggerclubuk
What a great idea! My boys would love to make these 🙂 #bloggerclubuk
What a cute project! My kiddos would love it!
#bloggerclubuk
That looks really cute, what a nice activity for the kids to do. #bloggerclubuk
I feel the same about the environment and I am already dropping things into conversations with my nearly three year old. I am so proud of how he always puts things in recycling / bin and comments on things like litter in the street! #BloggerClubUK
Mini Elmer! Milk bottles are so versatile, a great upcycle and perfect to support world book day #bloggerclubuk
This is so creative! And it repurposes something that would otherwise be thrown in the garbage. Great idea. #BloggerClubUK
Oh wow, what a fantastic craft, my son would love this! Thanks for the inspiration and good for you guys, I remember doing lots of WWF fundraising when I was younger xx #bloggerclubuk
These are brilliant. May have to try them with the grandkids
#BloggerClubUK
Oh this is fantastic – it caught my eye as my daughter is a huge elephant fan, it was her first cuddly toy and she seems to be drawn to all things Elmer too! I’ll definitely give this a go, would be a lovely thing to do together. Thanks for hosting #bloggerclubuk xx
Who would have thought a plastic bottle would turn into a very cute elephant head! Thanks for sharing something that’s clever and enjoyable for kids as well.
This looks great and not too tricky like many crafty things so I think my 6 year old as well as his older sisters would like to do it. And you don’t need ridiculously hard to find materials for it – amazingly I have all those things in my house already. #bloggerclubuk
Brilliant and really cute too, I hadn’t heard of the event so it was good to hear a bit more about it and find out what is going on in the world. Thanks
Mainy x
#bloggerclubuk
these look brilliant! I need to try this out with the boys they would love this! x #BLOGGERCLUBUK
Oh I love the idea of an led candle inside the elephant! My kids made similar elephants in school, they are super cute & love to keep in the window. I’m going to see about getting some led candles for them! x