Happy Earth Day!
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
…”Everything that has the breath of life in it – I give every green plant for food.’ And it was so.”
“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day. “Genesis 1:1, 30-31
Isn’t the earth amazing – truly amazing? The animals, the plants, the seeds, the sky, the ocean. I am continually in awe of the beauty and the complexity I see on this earth in my everyday surroundings.
This time of year it is especially fantastic – the early morning birds chirping, the fragrant lilac bushes, a spray of colorful tulips budding –
Take the time to stop and appreciate this earth today.
In honor of Earth Day today, I found it fitting to make…
Dirt Cups!
I don’t know who was more excited: my kiddos or me!
I think Earth Day and Dirt Cups just go together.
If you don’t get your hands dirty in some real dirt, then try the edible version. 
Fun, easy, educational, and tasty too!
Typically, I’ve done dirt cups with gummy worms, but if you want to spice them up a bit by adding flowers – it’s pretty simple and easy to do that, too.
To make flowers: Use green straws. Then attach used two pipe cleaners of the same color to make two sets of loops. Next cut a small piece for the center (tepals is what I learned is the dark area in the center of a tulip) to attach to the stem (green straw).
Dirt Cups
Ingredients
- 1 pkg. 3.9 oz. Jell-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
- 2 cups cold milk
- 1 tub 8 oz. Cool Whip Whipped Topping, thawed
- 15 Oreo cookies finely crushed, divided
- 10 gummy worms
Instructions
- Beat pudding mix and milk in large bowl with whisk 2 min. Let stand 5 min. Stir in Cool Whip and 1/2 cup cookie crumbs.
- Layer the cookie crumbs and pudding mixture into paper or plastic cups. Top with remaining cookie crumbs.
- Refrigerate 1 hour.
- Top with gummy worms just before serving.
- Add straw - pipe cleaner flower, if desired.
So happy to be reminded of Earth Day…I remember the first Earth Day celebrations in the 60’s and it is a joy to witness the expansive growth of attention paid to saving our planet.
I think about the writings of John Muir, Thoreau, Emerson, Wendell Berry, and am thankful our children and grandchildren are focused on conservation, education, and preservation. And today I’ll have a sample of those dirt cups!