30 Earth Day Ideas for Preschoolers

 

Earth Day is April 22nd, so I thought I would post a list of fun ideas you could do with preschoolers to help them learn more about their planet and appreciate the ways we benefit from it!  I have plans for several of these ideas and will link to them as I post about our activities.  If you do anything on this list, I'd love to have you share the link in a comment or email, and I will add a link to your post after the list.  One thing I love about Earth Day is that we live on Earth all year, so if you don't have time to celebrate on April 22nd, there's no reason not to on any other day of the year.  If you have any more ideas or suggestions, I'd love to hear those too!

Ready?  Here we go!

30 EARTH DAY IDEAS FOR PRESCHOOLERS:

1. Make your own paper!
2. Make an artwork using recycled markers or paints. 
3. Have a Recycle Day!  Talk about how recycling works, gather up materials to recycle, and dump them in the recycle bin.  If you don't get curbside recycling, take a trip to a drop-off location and deposit your recyclables there (schools and grocery stores often have recycle bins).
4. Start a compost!
5. Plant a vegetable you can eat.  Even better, start a whole garden! 
6. Learn what happens when you throw things away.  Where are the landfills in your area?  Make a Diagram showing what happens to trash.  Find out how long it takes different kinds of trash to decompose.
7. Plant or prune a tree!
8. Go on a Trash Walk at the park.  Pick up any trash you see and throw it away.  Remember to wear gloves. 
9. Make your own paint!
10. Use unwanted catalogs or old magazines to make a craft or paper mache project.
11. Make a doll dress out of an old shirt.
12. Donate gently worn clothes to a thrift store.
13. Cook something outside using solar energy!
14. Find out how you get electricity--where does it come from?
15. Visit a garden center!
16. Make a leaf collection!
17. Learn about flowers that grow naturally in your area.  Find and identify one.  Press it.  Use it in a craft.  
18. Learn what natural resources are.  What is the difference in renewable resources and non-renewable resources?  Visit a mine.
19.   Calculate your ecological footprint at http://www.earthday.org/footprint-calculator.  What ways can you conserve natural resources?  Be careful with this (and any Earth Day activities) if you have a sensitive child.  There's a difference between helping a child appreciate a carpool and making them worry about non-renewable resources. 
20. Learn what kinds of wild birds are in your area.  
21. Set up a bird-feeder or bird bath!
22. Learn how to cook a new meal from scratch.
23. Use a bus or train to go somewhere!
24. Visit a farm.
25. Visit a nature reserve.
26. Learn about the wild animals that live in your area.
27. Dissect a seed and identify the parts inside it!  
28. Create a Seed Display showing different types of seeds and how they spread.
29. Join a local organization for an Earth Day project.
30. Learn and diagram where your water comes from.

I may share at any of these parties!