Earth Day Primary School Activities

Take students to a beach and pick up trash on Earth Day.

Earth Day provides a rich opportunity for classroom and school activities. Celebrating Earth Day throughout the school involves both teachers and students in learning about recycling, conservation and preservation. Activities can vary from in-class projects with recycled materials to field trips to nearby beaches or parks. The goal of any Earth Day activity is to educate students with age-appropriate activities about the ways they can participate in protecting the planet on an ongoing basis.

Contests

Have classrooms compete to collect the most trash or recycle the most items during the month of April when Earth Day is celebrated. This activity would also involve the students' families. Ask students to collect trash left around their neighborhood or to begin a recycling program at home. Students can weigh their collections on a home scale or take them to a recycling center and then report collected weights to the classroom each week. The winning classroom can celebrate with an ice cream or cupcake party at the end of the month.

Field Trips

Schedule field trips to nearby beaches or parks. Getting kids outdoors is a great way to expose them to their natural environment. Couple the trip with lessons on local flora and fauna. When possible, see if a park ranger or a parent with ecology or biology training can lead the field trip. The trip can also include time to collect any trash found in the area. Back in the classroom have children write about their favorite parts of the day or one important lesson they learned about protecting the environment.

Around the School

Launch a school gardening program or spruce up the school grounds by planting flowers or trees. With the right adult supervision, primary school students are perfectly capable of planting vegetable seeds in a school garden and learning the basics of how to care for them. Long term garden maintenance can become a part of an ongoing science curriculum. Local garden nurseries and garden clubs can donate flowers and trees to be planted around the school. On a smaller scale, students can plant seeds in recycled jars or donated starter pots and learn about plant growth in the classroom as they care for their seedlings.

Endangered Animals

Have children create puppets or masks from recycled materials depicting their favorite endangered animal or plant. Students will need access to pictures and basic information about endangered animals. Puppets or masks can be made from recycled or reusable items such as paper bags, magazines, socks and egg cartons. Once the masks and puppets are made, students can present a short summary to the class on why they chose the animals they did and what they learned about them.

References

• Kaboose: Earth Day Crafts
• Teachers First: Earth Day