While Earth Day may not inspire cards, gifts, and lavish celebrations, it has become a marked occasion across America. Conceived in 1970 as a day to recognize how we can help save the planet, Earth Day is now celebrated in homes and schools on April 22nd each year. Many teachers use this time to teach students basic lessons about taking care of the earth, and it’s never too early to start.
Preschool is the perfect place to introduce basic concepts like conservation and recycling, which students can do in their own homes. Most preschoolers love to be helpers, and celebrating Earth Day allows them to feel important through learning how to help the planet. While most of the science behind phenomenon like global warming is above their understanding, they can grasp simple truths about helping the environment.
Whether you choose to devote a day, week, or longer to Earth Day, there are many books and activities you can share with your class to help them learn. Stick to basic environmental concepts such as: reduce-reuse-recycle, water and electricity conservation, or how planting trees and other plants benefits the earth. The following resources will help you prepare an Earth Day lesson plan that will keep preschoolers engaged while teaching them about caring for our planet.
Earth Day Books
Picture books make any subject come alive, and these books do a great job of explaining basic Earth Day concepts on a level preschoolers can understand. Simple stories, colorful illustrations and familiar characters will help you teach your preschool class about important acts such as recycling and conservation.
Biscuit’s Earth Day Celebration
Biscuit the puppy is a preschool favorite, and in this book, he learns simple ways to care for the planet. Preschoolers will learn that helping the earth can be done through basic activities such as picking up litter, turning off the water, planting a garden, and caring for animals. A sweet read that will educate young children at the same time.
The EARTH Book
Todd Parr’s whimsical illustrations and humorous text have always delighted children, and this book is no exception. In its pages, kids will learn that they can do little things to care for the earth that will make a big difference. Not only does Parr encourage children to do things like use both sides of a sheet of paper and bring reusable bags to the store, he explains how those things help the earth. This simplistic cause and effect story does a great job teaching preschoolers the important lessons behind Earth Day.
Curious George Plants a Tree
Curious George has been entertaining children for decades, and preschoolers will recognize him from his books and PBS animated series. In this book, George learns about the environment at the museum and wants to get involved in an upcoming community recycling rally. In typical Curious George fashion, he gets overly-zealous and collects his neighbor’s newly-delivered newspapers to recycle. But in the end, things work out and the community plants trees to help the earth. At the end of the book is a list of twenty things kids can do to help save the planet, and the book itself will teach kids the right way to plant a tree.
It’s Earth Day! (Little Critter)
Many preschoolers love the “Little Critter” series by Mercer Mayer, and this book uses his characters to teach children about little things they can do to help the earth. Concepts like recycling and turning off the lights are explained in a simple way that kids will understand and remember. However, Little Critter does make a “climate control machine,” which is essentially a fan blowing over ice to help cool the planet, whose creation seems counterintuitive to the rest of the book. Overall, some practical tips can be gleaned from this story.
Earth Day Activities & Crafts
Whether you choose several of these activities to complete through the month of April or just one for Earth Day, each craft will teach preschoolers an environmental concept they can use at home as well.
Plant a Tree (or Flower or Vegetable)
Planting vegetation is environmentally friendly and easy to do. It’s exciting for young children to plant something and watch it grow, and it’s a simple activity anyone can do. Give each child a paper cup, yogurt cup or small pot, let them fill it with soil, and plant some seeds. Water them, watch them grow in a sunny window in the classroom, and send them home with a special note when the seedlings start to sprout. Vegetables are fun because they can be harvested later, but flowers are also nice, and can make a sweet Mother’s Day gift for May.
Green Activity Chart
Give each child a large piece of paper with three or four squares across it. Instruct each child to draw pictures of things they can do at home to help the earth. Write captions for each activity below the picture. Some ideas include: recycle, turn off the lights when not in use, turn off the water while brushing your teeth, plant a garden, use both sides of the paper, walk instead of drive, etc. If you are choosing to focus your lesson on specific “green” activities, you can fill out the chart ahead of time and have the children draw or color the pictures.
Recycling Bags
Teach children how to recycle properly through sorting all recyclable materials into recycling bags. Give each child two or three paper grocery bags and have them color labels for each one like glass, paper, plastic, or cans. Affix the labels to each bag and help students practice sorting their recyclables before taking the bags home to use.
Reusable Shopping Bags
Give each child a canvas tote and let them draw on them with fabric crayons or markers. Suggest earth-friendly pictures such as the recycling symbol, trees, or the earth itself. Each child can take his bag home to use when out shopping.
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