5 Recipes For An Easy Edible Dirt Cup Activity To Teach Kids About The Environment

We’re making learning fun with this edible dirt cup activity! With Earth Day approaching, this is a great activity to entertain your kids, but also teach them about the environment. I’ve found that the more I can incorporate different styles of learning into one activity, the more likely my kids are to retain the information.

I’ve listed everything you need for this edible dirt cup activity and included some additional resources to help you turn this easy edible dirt cup activity into an extended lesson!

In this blog post, we’re talking about an easy edible dirt cup activity to teach kids about the environment!

Recipe 1: Traditional Edible Dirt Cup Activity

Ingredients

• Chocolate Pudding
• Oreos
• Gummy Worms
• Green Sprinkles

Directions

1. Add pudding to the bottom of the cup
2. Add a layer of crushed Oreos
3. Add gummy worms
4. Add green sprinkles to represent grass

Recipe 2: Chocolate Extreme Edible Dirt Cup Activity

Ingredients

• Chocolate Ice Cream
• Chocolate Chips or crushed Oreos
• Gummy Worms
• Green and Brown M&Ms

Directions

1. Add chocolate ice cream to the bottom of the cup
2. Add a layer of chocolate chips or crushed Oreos
3. Add gummy worms
4. Add green and brown M&Ms to represent grass

Recipe 3:Healthy Edible Dirt Cup Activity

Ingredients

• Yogurt
• Graham crackers or protein cookies
• Gummy worms or pretzel sticks
• Green Sprinkles (optional)

Directions

1. Add yogurt to the bottom of the cup
2. Add a layer of crushed graham crackers
3. Add gummy worms
4. Add green sprinkles or any other green edible snack to represent grass

Recipe 4: Non-Edible Dirt Cup Activity

Does your child have food allergies such as gluten intolerance? No problem! Use clay or non-toxic Play-Doh to sculpt out the activity instead of using edible items.

Ingredients:

• Brown clay
• Fake dirt – here is a DIY recipe for fake dirt
• Toy worms – these are great from Target because they’re learning worms to teach about measurements or make worms out of clay!
• Green clay

Directions

1. Add clay to the bottom of the cup/bowl
2. Add fake dirt
3. Place toy worms on top
4. Add green clay to represent grass/land

Recipe 5: Edible Soil Horizon

This is great for teaching about soil horizons! Each layer represents a different soil layer.

Ingredients:

• Peanuts/cashews
• Mini chocolate chips/peanut butter chips
• Crushed cookies chunks
• Vanilla pudding
• Chocolate pudding
• Green sprinkles

Directions:

1. Add peanuts to the bottom of the cup; this represents bedrock (R horizon)
2. Add mini chocolate chips/peanut butter chips; this represents C horizon
3. Add crushed cookie chucks; this represents B horizon
4. Scoop vanilla pudding; this represents E horizon
5. Scoop chocolate pudding; this represents A horizon
6. Green sprinkles on top represent O horizon

Activity Extension Ideas

Here are some activities that can be paired with the edible dirt cup Earth Day activity!

Avoid single-use items for the activity

All of the ingredients you need for this activity will come in packaging – that is unavoidable. For the other items such as the spoon and cup, try to use reusable items instead of single-use items. Use this as an opportunity to talk about eco-conscious living and the importance of avoiding single-use items when possible.

Discussion topic: packaging

Take the opportunity to discuss packaging. What happens to your trash when you throw it away? Are any of these packaging items recyclable? Decide what is recyclable and what isn’t. Check with your city/county to make sure you’re recycling the right items. Sometimes it can be surprising to find out what is actually being recycled.

Talk about composting

Dirt is more than just dirt! It is so important for our ecosystem. Here are some great composting resources for your child:

• Read Compost Stew
• Read Making Composting Understandable For Kids
• Watch Composting with Peppa Pig or How Does Composting Work

Take a nature walk

Take a walk around your neighborhood or travel to a nearby park. Ask your child to observe what they see and hear. Do you see anything living in the dirt or walking on the dirt? What do you smell? Are there any plants or animals outside? What color are they? Feel free to bring a notebook and have your child jot down the answers to these.

Draw it out

Art is a beautiful way to allow children to express themselves and reinforce lessons. Have your child draw about Earth Day. Ask: what does Earth Day mean to you? What can you do to protect the Earth? Other options: write it out, act it out, type it out!

How did your edible dirt cup come out? Did your kids love it?

I hope you enjoyed this blog post all about edible dirt cup activities!

Happy Earth Day!

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