Celebrate Earth Day in your School with Nature Makers

With Earth Day coming up in April and a week full of activities planned in our Nature Art classes, we thought we would share some ideas of ways that you can enjoy learning about the Earth in a school setting, and considering how to make our Wonderful World a better and cleaner place for everyone.

Do a litter pick;

This one is so simple!

The children can litter pick at the school or in the local community. Not only does this help the environment but it is such an effective deterrent against littering too. They can form their own litter-picking groups and take on leadership roles too. If you want to find a way to thread it into the curriculum then spend some time planning it in Reg, go through the rules of recycling and teach terms such as 'biodegradable and compostable', then they can design anti-littering posters in Art & Design and / or English lessons.

Often schools only do this with younger pupils but it is just as effective with older students too.

Why stop there?

Why not create a song, rap or ballad in Music lessons? You can focus on key terms in Science lessons too. The sky really is the limit with this activity and the ways to extend it in your school. 

Become fact-finders (or a school of fact-finders!)

There are plenty of amazing books about the Earth out there to help pupils of all ages learn about our beautiful planet. One great book about Earth that we have discovered and is perfect for exploring with younger children is 'The Ultimate Book Of Planet Earth'. This interactive book covers a range of topics about our Planet from volcanoes to space, with lift the flaps, pop-ups and pull outs to increase the interest and learning for little ones. Older students will be able to find a wealth of information on the internet. Once you've gathered some key facts together, younger children can create images for them; older children can learn key terminology (or better still older pupils can present their findings to younger pupils - by putting your students in the role of the 'knowledgeable other' you'll find that their inquisitive natures and ability to recall facts will simply take over!)

Better still do a school-wide assembly or presentation to filter this knowledge down before the big day. 

Become agents of change:

Children are fantastic at taking action (in fact sometimes we can't stop them!) So why not monopolise that skill?

Think about whole-school changes you can adopt before and after Earth Day - really embody the quote that 'Everyday is Earth Day'. Why not come up with a range of things that can be easily implemented but that are also measurable?

This can be as simple as switching out paper towels or encouraging less paper waste in a classroom. You could encourage children to stop using single use plastics such as drink bottles; but make it competitive; do daily, weekly or monthly tallies in form-time or morning assemblies and log it, then incentivise moving towards a collective goal of zero.

Have fun with it and allow the children to make suggestions too!

Still stuck? Here are some ideas that are ready to go:

1. Plant something! If you want to go big then plant a tree but if you don't have the time, space (or permission!) then even planting something little (like sunflower seeds) can get the children motivated and engaged. Spring is the season for this so now is the time! This is another great cross-curricular activity. If you're lucky enough to have a school garden or greenhouse then certainly use that but don't be put off if you don't.

2. In the week(s) before Earth Day bring some twigs or branches into your setting. Display them in a prominent place. Give the children white luggage-tags and ask them to write down one thing that they would like to do / see for the planet or the environment. Before Earth Day display them on the 'tree' - It will become a focal point and you can return to it and check in to see what's been achieved and what you can all still work on. 

3. Use Earth Day as the focal point for homework - create a tic-tac-toe activity so that the children can tick off 3 of the activities; one in the week before, one during the week and one the week after. This will allow you to keep discussions going even after the day. 

Nature Makers can come in and show the children how easy planting sunflowers is, we can add in extra activities linked to Science, English and Art and create extra activities such as a watering schedule. We could even get your pupils fired up about who will get the biggest sunflower or who's sunflower will flower first. 

* We know that some children have climate concern and environmental anxiety and we know ways to assist in delivering this type of content to children that may be sensitive to this. We are also able to assist schools and teachers in creating spaces where these anxieties and concerns can be raised. 

Why not contact us today to arrange for us to come in and turn Earth Day into Earth Week, Earth month or even your best Earth year? 

Contact your local Activity Provider today (find yours here) to see how we can support your School.

This article was written by our wonderful Franchisee in Droitwich & Worcester, Shelley - Thank you Shelley!