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Looking for a simple but unique Earth Day activity? Hoping to connect meaning to the holiday for your kids at home? Wanting to celebrate Earth Day all week long? Us too! Check out how we incorporated vocabulary, categories, and some self-love into these Unique & Meaningful Earth Day Activity Ideas for Kids all about our home planet.
Earth Day Facts & Info
To kick off the week, we watched several videos to learn facts and information about Earth Day. Not only did my son learn more about this important day, but I learned something new too (On Wisconsin!)! Check out the video links below to introduce the holiday and its origins as well as some important Earth Day vocabulary.
Recyclable Category Sort
Once we knew what Earth Day was all about, we jumped into a category sort with the various kinds of recyclables. I slowly collected items for a week or two, so my son could touch and feel the different materials. However, you could easily sort pictures of recyclables if you don’t have the time to collect actual items (see below for a TPT Earth Day Recyclables Category Sort FREEBIE)! While pairing with a visual for paper, glass, plastic, and metal, we sorted each item into the correct pile. Here is the list of items I collected.
- Aluminum foil
- Pie tin
- Soda can
- Aluminum can
- Glass bottle
- Mason jar
- Laundry detergent bottle
- Water bottle
- Juice container
- Egg carton
- Toilet paper roll
- Drink carrier
- Small cardboard box
As we sorted, we talked about how these items will be reused to make new items. Together as a family we can work toward having less garbage and recycle more glass, metal, paper, and plastic in order to help our Earth. I even pointed out the two different bins we have in the kitchen…one for garbage and one for recyclables (sparing you a picture though as it has been awhile since they have been cleaned!).
If you don’t have access to different types of recyclables, no worries! We have you covered! Head on over to our TPT store for our FREEBIE Earth Day Recyclables Category Sort. These are great FREEBIE worksheets to help categorize recyclables by material as well as a sort for recycling, compost, and waste items. Did I mention they were a FREEBIE?! 😉
Overall, my son really enjoyed touching and feeling all of the items and deciding what material each one was. This activity went so well that I am pumped to try it out with my speech and language students this week as well! I always love being able to have tangible items for my students to hold and manipulate plus having the added bonus of introducing a variety of new vocabulary words.
Green Foods
Since we talked so much about taking care of our Earth, we also discussed taking care of ourselves and creating healthy habits. To do this, we went on a “green food adventure” at our local grocery store. Prior to shopping, I explained how awesome our planet really is and how it provides everything our bodies need. He did a great job spotting a variety of different “green foods” throughout the store. See what we ended up purchasing below!
- Broccolini
- Broccoflower (aka green cauliflower)
- Avocado
- Green Apple
- Key Lime Yogurt Covered Pretzels
- Green Olives
- Spinach
- Harvest Snap Pea Snacks
- Green Juice
This was a super engaging way to not only to make a routine grocery trip a bit more fun, but also encouraged my four year old son to try several new foods! He picked a few familiar items like spinach and a green apple, but he was super brave and ate three green olives. And we both decided that broccoflower or green cauliflower tastes exactly the same as regular cauliflower.
Globe ABCs
Another great Earth Day activity to create meaning at home is to bust out a globe or map! We have an old LeapFrog globe that my son loves looking at, spinning, and finding our “house”. If you don’t have access to a globe at home, an atlas or large scale map will do the trick too for this next activity!
I pulled some letter magnets off of the fridge and helped my son find countries that start with that letter. We spelled his name out, and he loved finding the countries that had the letters in his name too. Eventually, he was just excited to find different islands, water, and again his “house”. Seeing the globe and understanding that our world is made up of so many different places was a great way to appreciate how awesome our planet truly is!
Nature Walk
Our last Earth Day activity is actually one that we do all year round! Our family loves to hike and explore forest preserves near our home. Getting outside and simply enjoying the outdoors is a perfect way to foster a long lasting love of the planet and get our bodies moving. In fact, research shows that kids who play outdoors are more likely to protect the outdoors as adults.
We loaded up the baby in the stroller, my son’s balance bike, and of course the dog. As we walked, he pointed out all the birds and trees. Although it was a bit chilly and still fairly brown, I promised him the spring green is coming. Regardless, we enjoyed sneaking in a walk after school to celebrate not only Earth Day, but ourselves as well!
So there you have it! A unique and meaningful Earth Day activity for everyday this week! How do you find meaning in Earth Day? Drop a comment below with your go-to Earth Day activity! We hope you enjoy not only celebrating our fantastic Earth this week, but also watching your little find meaning in the little things.
Happy Earth Day, fellow SLPs and mamas!
Talking Mama Bears