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Things To Do For Earth Day, World Tai Chi Day and Other Spring Celebrations
Earth Day is April 22nd. World Tai Chi Day is the last Saturday in April. Sometimes I've seen these events combined and both are celebrated at local parks. Here are some ideas for celebrating at home this year.
Tai Chi
Try some Tai Chi. It's a great way to exercise anywhere that's good for all ages. It has many health benefits as well. You can do Tai Chi at home along with others all around the world celebrating World Tai Chi Day.
If you don't already have a Tai Chi routine, here are some that might be a good starting place:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCnCSOWgIUU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apIffYvzuS0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyX8iIRtECc
https://www.youtube.com/user/celebhith1
https://www.worldtaichiday.org/
Origami
You can create your own menagerie of animals with origami. Decorate the house with them or hang them up to create a mobile.
Some Origami animal examples:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Origami_animals
I've even seen toys made from origami including jumping frogs. Race them and see which one is fastest.
Create Crafts by Recycling
Recycle milk cartons to create bird houses or bird feeders. Recycle plastic milk jugs to create luminaries using tea lights.
Recycle used paper towel and toiler paper rolls to create party crackers with presents in them or a kaleidoscope.
Drawing and Coloring
Coloring can be a very relaxing pastime if you don't worry too much about coloring outside the lines. Draw and/or color some nature scenes in honor of Earth Day.
Check out some of the Books on Drawing listed here:
https://lmemsm.dreamwidth.org/13112.html
Gardening
Start or work on your garden. You don't need a yard. You just need a porch or window sill and some containers. You can recycle food scraps by planting them.
If you bought food that's sprouting (such as radishes or potatoes) or have the root tips on scallions or a celery stalk, you can use them to start new plants.
Bird watching
You can try bird watching from your yard, porch or even a window. If you've created your own recycled bird feeders, you can watch which birds you've attracted to your garden. You can also add plants to your garden that attract butterflies or certain types of birds.
How many different types of birds can you spot? Can you name them? Can you get any good photographs of the birds that stop by?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds
https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/
See if you can recognize birds in your area by their songs.
https://freesound.org/search/?q=bird+song
You can also record bird songs and other sounds and share them with the Creative Commons community. Projects like Freesound ( http://freesound.org ) and FreePats ( https://freepats.zenvoid.org/ ) have asked for volunteers.
Stargazing
There are some interesting Free and Open Source stargazing programs including Celestia and Stellarium.
https://portableapps.com/apps/education/celestia_portable
https://portableapps.com/apps/education/stellarium_portable
If you have a computer with limited resources or a handheld device try out the Nightsky stargazing program:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/nightsky/
If you have an Android phone check out Google's Sky Map app.
Check out the PBS Star Gazers podcast to hear what astronomical events may be going on at this time:
https://www.stargazersonline.org/
Local Parks and Recreation and Museums
One of our local parks has taken Earth Day virtual this year and is celebrating with a drawing contest. They've also shared some activities for Earth Day. Check with your local Parks and Recreation Department to see if they've shared any online activities.
One of our local museums has also gone virtual and is sending out art activities to do at home. Check your favorite museums to see what virtual activities and online videos they might have shared.
Check if there are mailing lists available that will bring activities right to your e-mail inbox.
Virtual Tours
What better way to celebrate Earth Day than to take a Virtual Tour of some of the fascinating areas on this planet? There are several virtual tours online. You can even find some in 3D.
A list of virtual field trip links:
https://www.commonsense.org/education/top-picks/virtual-field-trip-apps-and-websites
Meditation
Meditation is great for health, healing and coping with stress.
There are several forms of meditation, so if one doesn't work for you, try another. There are walking meditations (including Tai Chi walking). There are visualization meditations. Try visualizing a nature scene such as a garden or beach for Earth Day. Try a mantra meditation or recite affirmations. Listen to music. A soundscape with nature sounds such as bird songs is very appropriate for Earth Day. Count your blessings. Name 5 things you're thankful for each day.
Tai Chi can be used as a form of meditation and is a great way to celebrate World Tai Chi Day. Also, in honor of World Tai Chi Day, you might want to try Tai Chi walking as a form of meditation. Counting the omer is a very appropriate activity for this time of year. Count the omer for 49 days starting the evening of March 9th, 2020. You can meditate or take an action related to the two sephirot that represent that day.
Computer Resources
Check out some ecology related Free, Libre and Open Source computer games such as https://libregamewiki.org/FLTK_Recycling_Game!
Save the penguins with TuxMath:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/tuxmath/
Find Open Source games for your Android devices at:
https://f-droid.org
View the Earth with a virtual globe and world atlas:
https://marble.kde.org/
https://portableapps.com/apps/education/marble_portable
Recycle older computers by using Free, Libre and Open Source operating systems with them.
Check out some of these resources for bringing new life to older computers:
http://www.distasis.com/cpp/pbtc.htm#pb8
Tai Chi
Try some Tai Chi. It's a great way to exercise anywhere that's good for all ages. It has many health benefits as well. You can do Tai Chi at home along with others all around the world celebrating World Tai Chi Day.
If you don't already have a Tai Chi routine, here are some that might be a good starting place:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCnCSOWgIUU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apIffYvzuS0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyX8iIRtECc
https://www.youtube.com/user/celebhith1
https://www.worldtaichiday.org/
Origami
You can create your own menagerie of animals with origami. Decorate the house with them or hang them up to create a mobile.
Some Origami animal examples:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Origami_animals
I've even seen toys made from origami including jumping frogs. Race them and see which one is fastest.
Create Crafts by Recycling
Recycle milk cartons to create bird houses or bird feeders. Recycle plastic milk jugs to create luminaries using tea lights.
Recycle used paper towel and toiler paper rolls to create party crackers with presents in them or a kaleidoscope.
Drawing and Coloring
Coloring can be a very relaxing pastime if you don't worry too much about coloring outside the lines. Draw and/or color some nature scenes in honor of Earth Day.
Check out some of the Books on Drawing listed here:
https://lmemsm.dreamwidth.org/13112.html
Gardening
Start or work on your garden. You don't need a yard. You just need a porch or window sill and some containers. You can recycle food scraps by planting them.
If you bought food that's sprouting (such as radishes or potatoes) or have the root tips on scallions or a celery stalk, you can use them to start new plants.
Bird watching
You can try bird watching from your yard, porch or even a window. If you've created your own recycled bird feeders, you can watch which birds you've attracted to your garden. You can also add plants to your garden that attract butterflies or certain types of birds.
How many different types of birds can you spot? Can you name them? Can you get any good photographs of the birds that stop by?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds
https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/
See if you can recognize birds in your area by their songs.
https://freesound.org/search/?q=bird+song
You can also record bird songs and other sounds and share them with the Creative Commons community. Projects like Freesound ( http://freesound.org ) and FreePats ( https://freepats.zenvoid.org/ ) have asked for volunteers.
Stargazing
There are some interesting Free and Open Source stargazing programs including Celestia and Stellarium.
https://portableapps.com/apps/education/celestia_portable
https://portableapps.com/apps/education/stellarium_portable
If you have a computer with limited resources or a handheld device try out the Nightsky stargazing program:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/nightsky/
If you have an Android phone check out Google's Sky Map app.
Check out the PBS Star Gazers podcast to hear what astronomical events may be going on at this time:
https://www.stargazersonline.org/
Local Parks and Recreation and Museums
One of our local parks has taken Earth Day virtual this year and is celebrating with a drawing contest. They've also shared some activities for Earth Day. Check with your local Parks and Recreation Department to see if they've shared any online activities.
One of our local museums has also gone virtual and is sending out art activities to do at home. Check your favorite museums to see what virtual activities and online videos they might have shared.
Check if there are mailing lists available that will bring activities right to your e-mail inbox.
Virtual Tours
What better way to celebrate Earth Day than to take a Virtual Tour of some of the fascinating areas on this planet? There are several virtual tours online. You can even find some in 3D.
A list of virtual field trip links:
https://www.commonsense.org/education/top-picks/virtual-field-trip-apps-and-websites
Meditation
Meditation is great for health, healing and coping with stress.
There are several forms of meditation, so if one doesn't work for you, try another. There are walking meditations (including Tai Chi walking). There are visualization meditations. Try visualizing a nature scene such as a garden or beach for Earth Day. Try a mantra meditation or recite affirmations. Listen to music. A soundscape with nature sounds such as bird songs is very appropriate for Earth Day. Count your blessings. Name 5 things you're thankful for each day.
Tai Chi can be used as a form of meditation and is a great way to celebrate World Tai Chi Day. Also, in honor of World Tai Chi Day, you might want to try Tai Chi walking as a form of meditation. Counting the omer is a very appropriate activity for this time of year. Count the omer for 49 days starting the evening of March 9th, 2020. You can meditate or take an action related to the two sephirot that represent that day.
Computer Resources
Check out some ecology related Free, Libre and Open Source computer games such as https://libregamewiki.org/FLTK_Recycling_Game!
Save the penguins with TuxMath:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/tuxmath/
Find Open Source games for your Android devices at:
https://f-droid.org
View the Earth with a virtual globe and world atlas:
https://marble.kde.org/
https://portableapps.com/apps/education/marble_portable
Recycle older computers by using Free, Libre and Open Source operating systems with them.
Check out some of these resources for bringing new life to older computers:
http://www.distasis.com/cpp/pbtc.htm#pb8