Celebrating Earth Day at Home

With Earth Day approaching quickly, everyone is looking for ways to celebrate outside of the traditional classroom. One of my favorite things to do for Earth Day is to read Our Tree Named Steve to my class. It is an adorable story about a tree that has been there for a family through the years. In the end a storm destroys it and the family reuses it to create a treehouse. You can record yourself reading the story or you can use a read aloud on Youtube.

Here are my top 10 favorite stories to read during the week of Earth Day.

1. Our Tree Named Steve

2. Michael Recycle

3. The Lorax

4. Miss Fox's Class Goes Green

5. Compost Stew

6. Why Should I Recycle

7. I Can Save the Earth

8. How to Help the Earth By the Lorax

9. The Earth Book

10. I am Earth

Every year we do a recycling project. I usually go the the recycling center and get materials so everyone has the same stuff, but this year I am having the kids find "trash" at home to use for the project. They use this trash to create pretty much anything they can think of. A copy of the letter to send home can be found in my Earth Day Unit.

I also have my students do some kind of writing along with this project. I usually go with what could you do to help the planet. The template is also available in my unit in a printable and digital version.

I also like to have my students take part in helping our Earth. I get saplings so all my students can take one home and plant it. You can request native saplings for your class on this website or this one if you live in Indiana (this is where we get our trees.) I also send home a paper for them to record the ways that they helped the planet throughout the week. A printable and digital version is included in the unit as well.

This year since we cannot do our normal Earth Day activities in the classroom. We will be doing this webquest that I created. The students will explore videos, books, and websites to learn about energy, hazardous waste, and the 3 R's. See my other post to learn more about the webquest.

Grab your copy NOW!

And if you want to make your Earth Day a little more fun add some themed cupcakes! I have made them several different ways. Here is a recipe.

Everybody loves cupcakes!