Celebrate Earth Day’s 50th!

Earth Day turns 50 years old this year! Don’t let a quarantine keep you and your family from celebrating!

In fact, as the spotlight is increasingly focused on global health concerns, children are more aware of our interconnectedness than ever. What better time to celebrate the planet we all share?

Whether your little one is a climate-minded mini-activist or a young preschooler in need of fun crafting opportunities, there are dozens of quarantine-friendly ways to commemorate the day with virtual learning.

For Our Littlest Friends

For children between the ages of two and five, Earth Day offers the perfect opportunity to introduce important concepts like recycling, composting, pollution and planting — all while creating memories and sharing laughs.

Grab your little ones, some seeds, and a shovel and take the celebration out back. Even the smallest of hands can help drop seeds into holes you’ve shoveled, smooth top soil, and wield a watering can. Planting offers an invaluable opportunity to explore how plants grow while getting dirty (which is every three year old’s idea of a great time)! Extend the activity by tracking your plant’s growth week to week. Add some socialization into the activity by inviting a friend to join you in starting a garden. Facetimme to check in on each other’s planting progress over the upcoming weeks. Kids will love the pride that comes from showing off what they’ve grown.

For Our Mini-Activists

More and more young people are taking an interest in ensuring the preservation of our planet and Earth Day offers the perfect forum for voicing concerns, inspiring action, and brainstorming ways to help!

Fear not, Earth Day is going digital this year with virtual teach-ins. Visit earthday.org to join in on the action, learn about the history of the holiday, explore the issues still affecting our planet, and virtually join other activists in “marching” for awareness. Your kids can choose between registering for any of the digital events and opting to host their own (with guidance from the organizers). Whichever route you choose, there are plenty of ways to fuel your child’s passion for eco-friendly awareness.

For Lesson-Based Activities 

Conservation, pollution, and preservation organically lend themselves to interesting and complex lessons for elementary students. From letting students create to their heart’s content on recycled materials to enlisting them to help engineer solutions for better recycling of plastic bottles, lessons abound.

WeAreTeachers.com does a fantastic job of guiding parents in getting their children’s minds to grapple with climate change, eco-friendly engineering, and waste  reduction — all while having fun. We especially love the idea of “predator/prey” simulation game designed to demonstrate tangible effects climate change has on our planet’s animal population. Fun, education, and memorable — what more do you want from a lesson?

Happy 50th Earth Day and Happy Celebrating to All of You!

We would love to see what you and your little ones do to celebrate. Visit us on Facebook to share the memories you make.