For the 24 years, I taught elementary grades, one of my favorite holidays of each year was Earth Day. I created badges for my kids to wear and we always celebrated with an activity or two because we still need to protect and be a champion for our home planet. If you are looking for elementary resources for celebrating April 22nd, check out the following:
Earth Day Picture Books
- The Earth Book, by Todd Parr
- One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia, by Miranda Paul
- The Tree Lady, by H. Joseph Hopkins and Jill McElmurry
- The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry
- Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg
Videos
- Earth Day History for Kids (2:36) — Good information with lots of facts and numbers
- 10 Ways To Protect The Environment! (5:04) — Ten simple and doable ways everyone can help from, turning off the water while brushing your teeth to bringing reusable bags to the grocery store.
TED-ED Videos
Launched in 2012, TED-ED supports teachers and sparks the curiosity of learners with an online warehouse of short, animated videos with questions and resources. The TED-ED lessons are free to teachers and are organized by theme or subjects. The videos and lessons area is a creative collaboration between educators and a wide range of experts.
Five TED-ED Lessons to Watch on Earth Day
- Earth’s giant game of Tetris
- Why is biodiversity so important?
- How do solar panels work?
- What really happens to the plastic you throw away?
- Can wildlife adapt to climate change?
Earth Day to every day: Four TED-ED Lessons to help you save the world
- Biodiesel: The afterlife of oil
- How big is the ocean?
- Vermicomposting: How worms can reduce our waste
- Should we eat bugs?
Wonderopolis
WONDEROPOLIS is an informational website that asks and answers interesting questions about our wonderful world. Each day, a new “Wonder of the Day” question is posted and explored in a variety of ways. The site offers great resources for teachers and parents, designed to get students to think, talk, and find learning moments together. The following “wonders” will work well for Earth Day.
- How can you Make Earth a Better Place?
- What is so Great about Going Green?
- How Big is Your Carbon Footprint?
Earth Day Activities and Projects
- 3D Printing Projects Contributing to a Green Planet
- Earth Day Digital Breakout from BreakoutEDU
- Create a Google Doodle for Earth Day. Search for examples here.
- 12 Meaningful Earth Day Activities for Every Grade
- What’s Your Energy Score by Scholastic
- Earth Games and Activities
- The Earth Day Flag
- Earth Day Lessons – Grades K-5
- Earth Day Teacher Resources
- Activities to Inspire Students to Make a Difference
What is your favorite Earth Day activity? Please share your ideas and I will certainly include them in this blog post.
Image by Martin Eklund from Pixabay
More Earth Day Resources
Six Resources for Earth Day
Digital Resources for Earth Day
Get Ready for Earth Day
Earth Day Digital Breakout
Featured image designed by TCEA.
