Great Big Green Week | EYFS & KS1 Activity Ideas

**Note: This page is for educational inspiration and is not officially affiliated with Great Big Green Week. Great Big Green Week is a UK-wide celebration of community action to tackle climate change and protect nature. It is organised by The Climate Coalition, the UK’s largest group of people dedicated to action on climate change. This annual event takes place over a week and brings together communities, schools, and individuals to hold events and inspire others to get involved. It aims to highlight the amazing work being done across the country and to encourage people to make positive changes for the environment. For official information and details about the event, please visit the website: www.greatbiggreenweek.com.

Understanding Great Big Green Week in EYFS & KS1

Let's put on our green hats and become nature's best helpers for Great Big Green Week!🌿💚🌍

For early years settings, nurseries, preschools, childminders, and Year 1 and Year 2 classrooms, this week provides a wonderfully positive and crucial theme for exploring the environment, recycling, plants, animals, conservation, sustainability, and understanding the world (the natural world). It’s about empowering children to feel they have a role in protecting our planet, fostering a love for nature, and teaching simple, practical actions they can take every day. This week offers fantastic planning ideas and inspiration for engaging activities that truly resonate with young minds, making learning about environmental care both essential and wonderfully hands-on!

Why Is Learning About the Environment Important for Young Children?

Integrating Great Big Green Week and themes of environmental care, sustainability, and climate action into your practice with young children (aged 0-7) is incredibly important for fostering a sense of responsibility, developing practical skills, and building a lifelong connection to nature.

• Fosters Environmental Responsibility: Teaches children that their actions have an impact on the world around them.

• Encourages Practical Action: Provides simple, tangible ways for children to contribute, like recycling or saving water.

• Develops Empathy for Nature: Helps children understand the needs of plants and animals and the importance of protecting them.

• Builds Community: Shows children the power of working together with friends and family to make a positive change.

• Enhances Outdoor Learning: Inspires children to get outside and explore their local environment, from a garden to a park.

• Sparks Hope and Optimism: Focuses on positive actions and solutions, empowering children to feel they can make a difference.

Engaging 'Green' Activities for Great Big Green Week (EYFS & KS1)

Let's become little environmental heroes and celebrate our wonderful world for Great Big Green Week with these planning ideas and activities perfect for EYFS and KS1 children. The focus is on appreciating our planet, understanding environmental challenges, and learning how we can all help! Many of these early years and year 1 activities can be supported by our dedicated ‘The Environment’, ‘Recycling’, ‘Endangered Animals’, ‘Plants’, and ‘Water’ resources.

Here's some inspiration for celebrating Great Big Green Week 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. Emphasise respect for nature and responsible actions.)

Understanding Our Earth & Environment

• Learning About Our Home:

  • Use 'Earth Game' to introduce the concept of Earth as a home for all.

  • Create artwork or playdough creations with 'Earth - Our Home! Multimat - Playdough, Loose Parts, Art & Crafts'.

  • Practise alphabet skills with 'Earth Upper & Lower Case Alphabet Puzzle Game'.

• Connecting with Nature & Wildlife:

  • Go on a nature walk and look for signs of nature. Use 'Outdoor Maths - Shape Challenge Cards' to find shapes in nature.

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

  • Grow seeds or bulbs and track their progress with 'Gardening - Sunflower Growth Ordering Cards'.

  • Look for local wildlife using 'Garden Birdwatch Mat' and 'UK Garden Birds Colouring'.

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

  • Use resources about various animals like 'Zoo Animal Alphabet Display Cards', 'Zoo Animal Border Sheets', 'Animals Of The World Mega Colouring Pack', and 'Young Farm Animals Colouring Pack'.

  • Explore different habitats using resources from our ‘Beach School’, ‘Forest School’, ‘Wetlands’, and ‘Woodland (Temperate)’ pages.

Recycling & Reducing Waste

• Hands-on Recycling:

  • Set up a 'Recycling Centre Dramatic Role-Play Pack' for interactive learning.

  • Use 'Sort Recycling Cards Activity/Game' to help children categorise different materials.

  • Practise fine motor skills with 'Recycling Symbol - Fine Motor Control Sheets'.

  • Encourage creativity with 'Junk Modelling Challenge - Design A...Sheets' and 'Recycling Symbol - Multimats'.

• Reducing Plastic:

  • Discuss the impact of plastic with 'Recyclable Materials - Word Cards'.

  • Teach about the importance of reducing plastic with ''Don't Use Plastic Bags!' Poster' and ''Don't Use Plastic Bags!' Colouring Poster'.

  • Inspire children to 'Design A Bag For Life'.

  • Learn about ocean pollution with 'Keep Plastic Out Of The Oceans! - Posters'.

Water Conservation

• Why Water is Wonderful:

  • Use 'Wonderful Water! Display' or 'Wonderful Water! We Need Water To... Posters/Display' to highlight the importance of water.

  • Discuss different ways we use water with 'How Do You Use Water? Sheets' and 'How Do You Use Water? Ideas Sheet'.

  • Engage with numeracy using 'Water Droplet Numbers (0-20)' and 'Water Drops Counting Puzzles (1-10)'.

  • Conduct simple science experiments using ''Test It In The Water!' Investigation Sheets'.

  • Use 'Water Drops Upper & Lower Case Alphabet Puzzle Game' for letter recognition.

Protecting Endangered Animals

• Learning About Vulnerable Species:

  • Introduce children to various endangered animals using specific packs such as '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'.

  • Discuss why these animals are endangered and what we can do to help (e.g., recycling, protecting habitats).

  • Use 'ZOO Animal Colouring - With Name & Footprint' and 'ZOO Animal Counting Display Posters/Flashcards' to celebrate a wide range of animals.

Creative & Hands-on Exploration

• Engage senses with outdoor activities like 'Beach - Mindfulness Scavenger Hunt Sheets', 'Beach - Design A Shell Multimats', and 'Beach - Mark Making Cards'.

• Connect with seasonal changes using 'Finger-Paint Autumn Leaves'.

• Use 'STEM - Winter Challenge Cards' for inspiring outdoor investigations.

• Give a certificate to children who show great effort with 'Gardening - 'Green Fingers' Certificate'.

• Explore More: Explore a wide variety of themes which help our children learn about and appreciate animal and plant life. Our additional pages cover relevant and/or connected themes such as ‘Beach School’, ‘Endangered Animals’, ‘Forest School’, ‘Gardening’, ‘Habitats’, ‘Ocean’, ‘Plants’, ‘Polar’, ‘Recycling’, ‘The Environment’, ‘Water’, ‘Wetlands’, and ‘Wildlife’, ‘Woodland (Temperate)’.

These activities offer great inspiration for making Great Big Green Week a memorable and impactful experience in your early years and Key Stage One setting, fostering environmental awareness, community action, sustainable practices, and a lifelong passion for protecting our planet.

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

Printable resources to support teaching & learning surrounding: ‘Great Big Green Week’

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:

‘Wonderful Water’ EYFS & KS1 printable resources:

(Find more activities on this theme on our dedicated ‘Water’ topic page.)

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 June

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!

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Disclaimer:
This page is for educational purposes only and is intended to support early years and primary practitioners with ideas and resources related to 'Great Big Green Week'. We are not officially affiliated with or endorsed by The Climate Coalition, which organises this annual event. We do not claim any rights to specific trademarks or official materials associated with this event. For official information and details, please visit The Climate Coalition website: www.thegreatbiggreenweek.com.