Earth Day Activities

Did you know the first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970? Inspired by the rising concern for our planet’s well-being, Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin organized the event, and over 20 million Americans participated in the first Earth Day with rallies, protests and more.* 

It’s been over 35 years since the first Earth Day, but the need to love and care for our planet hasn’t gone away! Try this fun and easy activity with your students to celebrate and raise awareness of nature and the environment.

Make an Earth Treasure Box

Made from a simple egg carton you’d normally just throw in the trash, an Earth treasure box gives kids a chance to examine and treasure the world around them by collecting things found in nature.

Before your Earth Day celebration, have each student bring an empty egg carton to school. Cardboard works best.

Provide sequins, self-adhesive jewels, foam stickers, paint and any other craft supplies to embellish the egg cartons. (Don’t forget the glue!) You might want to decorate the egg cartons in blues, greens, browns and other earth-like tones.

When the egg cartons are finished, take students on an outdoor adventure. A walk in a park or nature area works best, but a stroll around the playground or neighborhood works, too. Encourage everyone to collect the beautiful, weird and wonderful little things that are all a part of the natural world, and store them in the compartments of their treasure boxes.

Some examples of things to collect:

•    rocks
•    seed pods
•    shells
•    feathers
•    twigs
•    leaves
•    berries (don’t eat them!)
•    fossils (if you look hard enough!)

At the end of your adventure, have each student share what he or she considers nature’s treasures.

Happy Earth Day!

* Source: Earthday.net