Preschoolers are naturally drawn to Mother Nature. They love to play outside. They adore getting messy and splashing in puddles. They can find beauty in the simplicity of a single leaf.
That's why Earth Day is such a wonderful opportunity to engage preschoolers who already have an active interest in the world around them. Earth Day is April 22, 2020, and by planning now you can fill the next month with these 10 awesome Earth Day activities celebrating this special occasion.
Reduce, reuse, recycle curriculum: Did you know a plastic bottle takes over 400 years to decompose? Your preschoolers probably don't. Talk about what it means to recycle and why it's important for our world. Then bring in some different items and have kids help you sort them into recycling bins.
Seed bombs: Messy hands? No problem. Your students will love it when you make seed bombs. These little balls created from clay, dirt and seeds are fun to make, and when dry can be brought home to be planted. Check out easy directions from TheFrugalGirls.com.
Simple service project: Giving back is an important value to instill in preschoolers. This Earth Day, consider an age-appropriate service project for your class, such as cleaning up the playground or picking up litter at a local park.
Paper planets: Reuse existing materials and educate with a fun newspaper planet project. Start by crunching newspapers into various-sized balls before wrapping with masking tape. Then research different planets' colors and paint each ball to represent our solar system.
Guest presentation: Invite a guest speaker from the city or the local refuse company to come in and talk about recycling in the community. Everyone can learn some fun facts and how recycling efforts impact them directly.
Clay earth: Get out the blue and green clay for some hands-on fun. Have preschoolers roll a ball with the blue clay as the base. Then lead the class as they add green to the surface to represent land. It doesn't have to be perfect, just lots of fun!
Plant a tree together: Plan a lesson discussing how trees clean the air by absorbing pollutants. Then go outside to plant a small tree on the school grounds together. Years from now when kids are grown they can come back and visit the tree they helped plant.
Handprint worlds: Handprints are always sentimental when integrated into art projects. For Earth Day, have kids paint their hands blue and green to represent the earth and press on a piece of construction paper. When dry, write "I have the whole planet in my hand" before sending home in backpacks.
Songs: Sing it loud and proud with some entertaining Earth Day songs. PreKinders.com has a great collection of songs you can use in your preschool curriculum during music times.
Earth cookies: It's not every day kids get cookies for snack, but not every day is Earth Day, either. Using simple circle sugar cookies and icing dyed blue and green, kids can take turns transforming their snacks into little earths before devouring the sweet treat.
Preschoolers are naturally drawn to Mother Nature. They love to play outside. They adore getting messy and splashing in puddles. They can find beauty in the simplicity of a single leaf.