Activities | Experiments | Arts & Crafts | EEK! Environmental Education for Kids

It's thunderstorming, raining, foggy, or freezing outside. What are you going to do? Why not try some of these fun EEK! activities. They'll help brighten up your day and get you ready to go outside and explore nature when the weather turns around.

Arts and Crafts

Get your creative juices flowing with these craft projects, many of which can be made with…

Child doing science experiment

Are you inquisitive? Do you like to ask ‘why’? These experiments may help you find answers to your…

Story Time

Reading is a great way to learn more about the world around us! There are so many books to explore…

Turning the page of a book

Books to Read on a Cold Winter's Day

Check out these great books all about winter!

clothespin craft emerald ash borers crawling around on firewood

Be on the lookout for invasive emerald ash borers.

A peek under the surface of water

Build an Underwater Scope

Get up close and personal with underwater plants and critters.

photo of a vermicomposting container with worms and vegetable scraps

Build Your Own Vermicomposting Box

Get started composting with worms!

Black bat hanging upside down

Bats, owls, and mice, oh my!

Red Cabbage plant close up

Dyes from Nature

You can make natural dyes out of plants in your yard and your refrigerator.

Hands out catching water

Did you ever wonder where all of the water you use comes from?

Bunch of gourds

From Gourd to Birdhouse

Build a different kind of birdhouse!

Eagle soaring in the sky

High Rising Eagles Mobile

Easy-to-make mobile to hang in your room.

Women checking ingredients on the back of a milk jug.

Holiday Luminary

Instructions for creating a recycled milk jug luminary!

A tree standing alone in a prairie

I Know a Tree...

Nature has been a source of inspiration for artists throughout history.

Folding an origami frog

Jumping Frog Origami

Step-by-step instructions on how to create this fun toy.

Pile of fallen leaves

Learn how to print leaf shapes on a shirt or other fabrics.

Icy trees light up by the sunlight

Light up the Winter Nights! Make an Ice Luminary

Light up winter nights with this beautiful ice luminary.

Pine cone wreath hanging on a door

Make a Cone Wreath

How to create a fun and festive pine cone wreath!

Milkweed in the forest

Make a Milkweed Bracelet

Cool craft using the versatile plant Milkweed.

A Robin perched on a snowy tree

Make an Ice Wreath

This wreath looks excellent, and provides birds with a snack!

photo of a pile of nature magazines

Make Recycled Paper Beads

Great way to use old magazines on a rainy day.

Sample of paper made at home

Make Your Own Paper

How to reuse your old newspaper, office and wrapping paper!

Maple syrup and cookies

Maple Syrup Treats

Simple recipes for sweet treats using maple syrup.

Collection of mushrooms

Mushroom Prints

Great art project using mushrooms you can find or buy.

Mushrooms growing on a log

Nature's Recyclers Coloring Book

Fun coloring pages of nature's own clean-up crew!

Northern Wisconsin landscape rocky hill overlooking lake with towering trees

Nature: Our Teacher

Nature: Our Teacher is a poem written by Eva Huffaker, age 16.

Young girl holding pine cones

Pine Cone Bird Feeder and Suet Feeder

Simple ways to feed your neighborhood birds!

Feild of sunflowers

Preserving Flowers

An alternative to pressing flowers for keepsake.

A bird resting

Recycle for the Birds

Read our ideas for reusing materials to create birdhouses and feeders.

Person filling a glass of water from the tap

Read this poem about water by Verne N. Rockcastle.

Restoration in the Barrens book cover

Restoration in the Barrens

Restoration in the Barrens is a story about a young teen’s struggle to rebuild his life while helping to rebuild a local prairie.

Winter hat

Staying Warm Winter Experiments

Learn why certain things keep us warmer in cold weather.

Kid making art

Student Art Gallery

Look at the cool art that students sent in!

Snow on budding tree branches

The Fate of Spring

The Fate of Spring is a poem written by Eva Huffaker, age 16.

Pinecone on forest floor among twigs

Twig Frame and Vase

Creative ideas to make art from nature!