Earth Day | EYFS & KS1 Activity Ideas

**Note: This page is for educational inspiration and is not officially affiliated with Earth Day. For official information, themes, and how to get involved, please visit the EarthDay.org website: www.earthday.org.

Understanding Earth Day in EYFS & KS1

Let's celebrate our wonderful planet Earth and learn how to look after it! 🌍💚 Earth Day is a special day celebrated every year on April 22nd. It was started by a man named Senator Gaylord Nelson in the United States way back in 1970, because he wanted everyone to learn about how important it is to protect our environment. The very first Earth Day helped start a big movement to care for our planet, and it led to new rules to keep our air and water clean. Today, Earth Day is celebrated all over the world by billions of people in many different countries! It's organised by EarthDay.org (which used to be called the Earth Day Network). The aim of Earth Day is to help everyone learn more about our planet, understand how to protect it, and encourage people to take action for the environment.

For early years settings, nurseries, preschools, childminders, and Year 1 and Year 2 classrooms, this day provides a vital and engaging theme for exploring the environment, plants and animals, recycling, conservation, understanding the world (the world around us), and personal, social & emotional development (PSED) through a sense of responsibility. It's about introducing children to the beauty of nature, the importance of caring for our planet, and simple actions they can take to make a big difference. This day offers fantastic planning ideas and inspiration for engaging activities that truly resonate with young minds, making learning about environmental stewardship both essential and empowering!

Why Is Learning About Earth Day Important for Young Children?

Integrating Earth Day and lessons about environmental care into your practice with young children (aged 0-7) is vital for fostering an early appreciation for nature, developing responsible habits, and laying the groundwork for future environmental awareness.

• Fosters Environmental Responsibility: Teaches children that they have a role in caring for the planet.

• Promotes Connection to Nature: Encourages appreciation for plants, animals, and natural habitats.

• Develops Practical Skills: Introduces concepts like recycling and conserving resources in an age-appropriate way.

• Encourages Problem-Solving: Sparks thinking about how to protect the environment and make positive changes.

• Enhances Scientific Understanding: Provides opportunities to learn about ecosystems, life cycles, and natural processes.

• Inspires Compassion: Extends care not just to people but to all living things and the planet itself.

Engaging Earth Day Activities for EYFS & KS1 (0-7 Year Olds)

Let's get our hands dirty (in a good way!) and make a difference for Earth Day with these planning ideas and activities perfect for EYFS and KS1 children. The focus is on appreciating nature, learning about recycling, and protecting our planet! Many of these early years and year 1 activities can be supported by our dedicated 'The Environment', 'Recycling', 'Endangered Animals', 'Plants', 'Animals', and 'Habitats' resources.

Here's some inspiration for celebrating Earth Day in your setting: (Please use your own discretion and knowledge of your children to ensure appropriateness of each activity and safety concerning any materials given and activity undertaken.)

• Learning About Our Planet:

  • Introduce the Earth as our home. Use 'Earth Game', 'Earth - Our Home! Multimat - Playdough, Loose Parts, Art & Crafts'.

  • Practice literacy with 'Earth Upper & Lower Case Alphabet Puzzle Game'.

  • Discuss the importance of keeping our oceans clean with 'Keep Plastic Out Of The Oceans! - Posters' and 'Keep Plastic Out Of The Oceans! - Posters (Colouring)'.

• Recycling and Reducing Waste:

  • Set up a "recycling centre" role-play area using 'Recycling Centre Dramatic Role-Play Pack'.

  • Practice sorting different materials with 'Sort Recycling Cards Activity/Game' and 'Cut, Sort And Stick Recycling Activity'.

  • Learn the recycling symbols using 'Recycling Symbol - Fine Motor Control Sheets' and 'Recycling Symbol - Multimats', 'Recycling Symbol - Fine Motor Control Sheets'.

  • Encourage junk modelling with 'Junk Modelling Challenge - Design A...Sheets' using recycled materials.

  • Talk about reducing plastic with 'Design A Bag For Life', 'Don't Use Plastic Bags!' Poster', and 'Don't Use Plastic Bags!' Colouring Poster'.

  • Use 'Recyclable Materials - Word Cards' for vocabulary building.

  • This links directly to our ‘Recycling’ topic page.

• Caring for Plants & Animals:

  • Explore different plants and what they need to grow using 'Plants - Word Mat', 'Plants - 'Plants Make Their Own Food' Poster', and 'What Does A Houseplant Need?' Poster - Colouring'.

  • Engage in gardening activities, ordering the growth of plants with 'Gardening - Sunflower Growth Ordering Cards' and celebrating with 'Gardening - 'Green Fingers' Certificate'.

  • Learn about animals, including farm animals with 'Farm Animals And Their Young Puzzles/Matching Game' and 'Young Farm Animals Colouring Pack'.

  • Discover garden birds using 'Garden Birdwatch Mat' and 'UK Garden Birds Colouring'.

  • Learn about endangered animals using: 'Barn Owl Pack', 'Bat Pack', 'Black Rhino Pack', 'Bumblebee Pack', 'Chimpanzee Pack', 'Elephant Pack', 'Gorilla Pack', 'Lion Pack', 'Orangutan Pack', 'Sea Lion Pack', 'Sea Turtle Pack', 'Tiger Pack', 'Vaquita Pack', and 'Whale Shark Pack'.

  • This links to our ‘Plants’, ‘Endangered Animals’, and ‘Wildlife’ pages.

• Outdoor Exploration & Appreciation:

  • Go on nature walks, focusing on observing plants, trees (like with 'Woodland Trees - Fact Cards - A5'), and minibeasts (linking to 'Minibeasts').

  • Conduct a 'Beach - Mindfulness Scavenger Hunt Sheets' or design shells with 'Beach - Design A Shell Multimats' and use 'Beach - Mark Making Cards'.

  • Engage in outdoor maths activities using 'Outdoor Maths - Shape Challenge Cards'.

  • Explore different habitats (linking to ‘Habitats’): 'Beach School', 'Forest School', 'Ocean', 'Polar', 'Wetlands', 'Woodland (Temperate)'.

• General Environmental Learning:

  • Discuss life cycles using 'Endless Life Cycle Puzzles'.

  • Create art inspired by nature, like 'Finger-Paint Autumn Leaves'.

  • Engage in STEM challenges (like 'Stem - Winter Challenge Cards') to think about how things work in the environment.

These activities offer great inspiration for making Earth Day a memorable and impactful experience in your early years and Key Stage One setting, fostering environmental awareness, responsible habits, love for nature, and a lifelong commitment to caring for our planet.

To explore ideas surrounding additional early years events, please visit our 'Special Dates Calendar' page.

Printable resources to support teaching & learning surrounding: ‘Earth Day’

Free ‘Environment’ related EYFS & KS1 activities, including ‘Recycling’, ‘Animals’, ‘Plants’ & ‘Endangered Animals’:

‘Recycling’ EYFS & KS1 activities:

(Find more resources on this theme on our dedicated ‘Recycling’ topic page.)

‘Endangered Animals’ EYFS & KS1 activity packs:

(Find more resources on this theme on our dedicated ‘Endangered Animals’ topic page.)

Learning about the ‘Earth’ EYFS & KS1 activities:

Additional Pages you may like to explore which cover relevant &/or Connected themes

Explore a wide variety of themes which help our children learn about and appreciate animal and plant life.

More Early Years Event Pages for April

Explore special dates (including awareness dates, festivals, celebrations & events) relevant to your EYFS & KS1 children

Browse our ‘Special Dates Calendar’ page using the link below. You’ll find calendars for every month of the year to aid your planning!

SEARCH ‘LITTLE OWLS Resources’ USING THE FOLLOWING MENU BUTTONS…

Disclaimer:
This page is for educational purposes only and is intended to support early years and primary practitioners with ideas and resources related to 'Earth Day'. We are not officially affiliated with or endorsed by EarthDay.org (formerly the Earth Day Network), which coordinates this global event. We do not claim any rights to specific trademarks or official materials associated with this event. For official information, themes, and how to get involved in protecting our planet, please visit the EarthDay.org website: www.earthday.org.