April is Earth Month, a time to celebrate our planet and take action to protect it. Earth Day takes place annually on April 22 and is a day to demonstrate support for environmental protection. The global theme for Earth Day 2024 is Planet vs. Plastics. "Planet vs. Plastics unites students, parents, businesses, governments, churches, unions, individuals, and NGOs in an unwavering commitment to call for the end of plastics for the sake of human and planetary health, demanding a 60% reduction in the production of plastics by 2040 and an ultimate goal of building a plastic-free future for generations to come." (EARTHDAY.ORG)
Want to learn more about Earth Day and how you can help save our planet? Take a quiz to see how much you know about topics including climate change, clean energy, plastic pollution, and endangered species. Toolkits, such as the Individual Action Toolkit, are available to help you learn more about actions you can take to make a difference in the world.
- Earth Month/Day Library Programs
Headquarters Library
Elementary STEAM - Earth Month (ages 6-11)
Thursdays, April 11 & 25 at 3 p.m.
Celebrate Earth Day and Gardening Month with the library by planting seeds and making crafts.- April 11: Plant seeds and decorate plant markers you can take home to grow in your garden or window sill.
- April 25: Make a variety of garden themed crafts with us; we'll have stations for stone painting, leaf printing, and making pinecone bird feeders.
Hawthorne Branch
Story Time - Earth Day (ages 5 and under)
Thursday, April 18 at 10:30 a.m.
Join us for fun with art, music, science, stories and more!Tower Road Branch
MakerSpace: Suncatcher Painting - Earth Day (ages 6-11)
Wednesday, April 3 at 2 p.m.
All supplies provided to paint a flower or Earth suncatcher, while supplies last.Waldo Branch
ArtSpace: Visual Journaling - Earth Day (ages 6 and up)
Thursday, April 11 at 4 p.m.
Saturday, April 13 at 2 p.m.
Add a page to your visual journal that celebrates Earth Day.
Seed Library
We have Seed Libraries available at all library locations. A Seed Library is where we share free seeds and gardening tips with all gardeners, new and experienced. Since availability differs depending on location, ask your local branch staff about their location's seed library the next time you visit!
To celebrate Earth Month 2024, we are including instructions for decorating flower pots. Once you are finished, you can stop by any Seed Library location to pick up flower or vegetable seeds to plant in your decorated flower pot. Two decorating techniques you can learn about on our database, Creativebug, are painted and dyed terracotta flower pots. Each of these video lessons is about 20-minutes long.
Some other fun ideas for decorating flowers pots are to paint them with chalkboard paint, wrap them in twine or ribbon, or add glitter to them.
- Decorating Flower Pots Using Paint and Glitter
- Image
Materials Needed:
- Ceramic or terra cotta flower pot
- Paint (Choose your favorite color)
- Paint brush
- Mod Podge
- Glitter (Choose your favorite color)
- Beads and Gemstones (Optional)
Directions
Step 1: Paint a coat or two of your favorite color on the outside of the pot. If you're feeling super creative, you can customized your pot even further, by adding illustrations or drawings. Let the paint completely dry before moving on to the next step.
Step 2: Prepare your glitter. To avoid a mess, put some glitter on a disposable plate.
Step 3: Paint a coat of mod podge around the edge of your pot.
Step 4: Cover the edge of your pot in glitter by gently rolling it around on the disposable plate containing the glitter.
Step 5: Let the glitter dry. If you want, you can bedazzle your pot with beads and gemstones.
Step 6: Now, add soil and your favorite plants, flowers or succulents to your beautifully decorated flower pot! Don't forget that you can pick up free seeds from any of our Seed Library locations.