Earth day is coming! Held annually on April 22, it is a day to celebrate and recognize the importance of our planet, Earth. Celebrating Earth Day in the classroom is a great way to lay the foundation and ensure students will take care of Earth for years to come.
We’ve rounded up Earth Day activities to use in your classroom, including a free printable we created just for you!
P.S. Most of these can be used all Spring long—score!
1. Earth Day Bingo
Celebrate Earth Day by playing bingo! Students get to create their own bingo cards by coloring their bingo squares, cutting them out, and gluing them onto their bingo card in whichever blank space they choose. It presents the perfect opportunity to learn about Earth Day by discussing the items on the bingo cards and playing a fun game of bingo.
2. DIY Upcycled Potted Plants
Succulents are low-maintenance plants, some only needing a spritz of water once a month! Have students build and decorate their pots, and they can bring home their succulents to take care of. It’s a great introduction to plant care and gives students a sense of newfound responsibility.
3. How Big is Your Carbon Footprint?
It’s important to teach students how to care for the world around them. This Earth Day activity is a great way to demonstrate how their actions have an impact on the environment so they can make informed decisions moving forward. For each ring, offer ways students can be more green in their day-to-day life to avoid climate anxiety.
4. Egg Carton Greenhouse Project
Reduce, reuse, recycle! What better way to teach the importance of these values than using things you already have to grow a garden? Your students will love coming into school to see their plant’s progress all spring long. What’s more, this hands-on activity is a great exercise for cognitive development!
5. Handprint Earth Craft
Let students get crafty and create Earth using their handprints, paint, and a paper plate (or anything round, such as white construction paper cut into a circle). Students paint their hands and place handprints around the plate, using green for land and blue for water. After completing their Earth, have students make a promise to Earth. Write this promise out on paper, and attach it to the Earth. Add a Band-Aid to further the idea of fixing and taking care of our planet!
6. Coffee Filter Earth
Using a coffee filter, blue marker, green marker, spray bottle and water, let students create their own coffee filter Earth. This craft is so easy and fun. Students color their coffee filter with blue and green marker, making it look like Earth. When they are done coloring comes the fun part—spraying their coffee filter with water. Once sprayed and slightly wet, the colors begin to bleed, making a marble-effect Earth. Laminate the finished product for a stained-glass window effect!
7. Colleting Litter
While this one seems obvious, collecting litter is an easy and effective way to make Earth beautiful and get students involved. With gloves and bags in hand, take students outdoors to pick up trash around the school. Make it a game by seeing who can collect the most trash! Expand beyond Earth Day by starting a clean-up crew at your school, allowing students to pick up trash around the school weekly.
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8. Recycled Art
Let students’ creativity flourish by creating artwork without the need to purchase tons of supplies. This activity requires students to open their imagination without much guidance. From cardboard flowers and lid art to toilet paper roll vases or cards, the opportunities are endless. Ask your students to collect items to be recycled (bottles, magazines, cardboard, etc.) and bring them in to create a recycled supply table. From this table, and with a few additional supplies, students can create whatever artwork they can imagine.
9. The Lorax Craft
The Lorax invites students to be knowledgeable, curious, and thoughtful about the world around them and how they can protect the Earth. After reading and discussing the book, students can create their own paper plate Lorax mask. Using their mask to transform themselves into the Lorax, students can make a pledge to take care of Earth, sharing it out loud or writing it.
10. Solar Construction
Get students engineering. Using the sun as a source of power, have students construct a solar oven or a car (or anything!) This not only allows students to see how solar power works firsthand and understand the benefits of this type of power for Earth, it also gives you the perfect excuse to enjoy delicious smores with your class—but who even needs an excuse to eat chocolate?
11. Classroom Recycling
Learning is doing. Let students learn about recycling by creating their own recycling center in your classroom, and recycle the rest of the year!
12. Be a Food Waste Warrior
The World Wildlife Fund has a full comprehensive guide for every student K-12 to that helps them be mindful about the food they’re throwing away.
13. The Cycle of Water
April showers bring May flowers! Spring is a great time to teach your students what’s actually going on in the sky above to create those rainy spring days.
14. Reading Outdoors
Simple, easy, and so enjoyable: get outside and enjoy nature! Take a walk with your class, find a spot, and read together or independently.
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