Earth Day Crafts and Activities

Earth Day Crafts are such fun for kids. Teach the kids about the Earth and introduce some recycling and environmentalism while remaining age-appropriate.

Celebrate Earth Day with the Zoo

We celebrate Earth Day on April 22.  This is a special day to show our appreciation for our earth and all it has to offer us.  Preschoolers need to learn early about our earth, how precious it is and what makes it that way. 

One way to celebrate and learn about Earth day is by taking a trip to the zoo.  Now you may not have a zoo close by or even be able to take your preschoolers on a trip to the zoo but you can bring the zoo to them right in your classroom.

Find stuffed animals that represent the different animals found in a zoo.  Look at the dollar store, rummage sales or even ask the children to bring in stuffed animals they may have at home.  Try to get as many different animals as you can find.  This will help create a more realistic zoo. 

Use cardboard to make your zoo areas.  You can draw on the cardboard to duplicate the habitat of different animals. Some animals live in trees, some in the desert, and some in grass or high weeds and so on.  It doesn’t have to be fancy just enough so the children get the drift of how these animals live.  Place your animals around the room as they might be found in a zoo atmosphere.

Find books that talk about the different animals and how they affect our earth.  Point out each animal in your make believe zoo.  Have the children discuss what they know about each animal and their environment. 

Let the kids walk around the zoo.  They can talk to each other about the animals and feel as if they are really right at the zoo.  Just let them enjoy their little trip.  Top the day off with a snack of popcorn and peanuts.  No trip to the zoo is complete without those snacks.

Giving your preschoolers an idea of why Earth Day is so important can only start them on the right track of doing their part to help our earth continue to prosper.  Showing them why animals are so important to this is one way of letting them know everything has a purpose on our great earth.

Plants Are an Important Part of Earth Day

Plants are a very important part of keeping our earth healthy.  Children love to learn about plants, flowers and even trees. It peaks there interest and they want to know we have them. Earth Day is a great day to talk to your preschoolers about our earth and the necessity for all the plants we have in our world.

Use books to help explain to the children about different plants.  There are many types of books that have pictures of different plants and explain them in very simple detail.  You may think your preschoolers aren’t interested in seeing a plant but they are.  They watch Mom and Dad in the garden or planting flowers and they want to know why.  Books can help them to understand the why.

Take them outside and point out the different types of plants, flowers and trees.  Not only will they get a kick out of seeing these but they may find things that are a surprise. Like a squirrel in a tree or a worm in the grass.  This will definitely peak their interest and will start the questions rolling.

Help them to plant their own plant.  It doesn’t take much. A Styrofoam cup, some dirt and a few seeds are all they need.  Show them how to fill their cup with the dirt. Talk to them about how the dirt is important for the seeds to root and grow.  Find a book that shows how the plant progresses from start to finish.  These pictures will give them an idea of what they can expect as their plants grow. 

Let them plant their own seeds in the dirt.  Walk them through how to place the seed in the dirt and push it down so it can get the nutrients it needs to begin to grow.  Help them water their plant and let them know it’s necessary to continue to water their plant if they want it to grow into a pretty flower.  As the plants grow talk to them about what stages they are in and how the plant will bud and then finally be a flower. 

Kids may act like they don’t care about the world around them especially that plant growing in the window.  In reality it does peak their interest and they do want to understand why they are important.  If nothing else they want to know how to make those flowers grow so they can give Mom that pretty bouquet to set on the table.  Teaching them the significance of plants to our earth at an early age will insure they are responsible in helping to keep our earth alive and healthy forever.