Earth Month

K-2 Videos

What is Earth Day: Learn how you can help the environment by recycling, saving energy, and even planting trees!

What is Earth Day?: Engaging explanation with visuals about Earth Day and its importance.

Learn How to Celebrate the Earth: On Earth Day, we can take action by learning more about the environment and how we can make a difference.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: A fun, musical way to teach young kids the 3 R’s with familiar characters

K-2 Read Alouds

Smart ideas on how we can all work together to make the Earth feel good - from planting a tree and using both sides of the paper, to saving energy and reusing old things in new ways.

Kids can follow Max the Little Green Monster's journey to environmental awareness and learn tips on how they can become little green monsters themselves.

A creative, rhyming introduction to composting and recycling.

K-2 Activities

Nature Walk Scavenger Hunt

Objective: Observe and appreciate the natural world.

Instructions: Take a walk and search for:

3 different leaves
A bird
Something red in nature
A bug
A smooth rock

Extension: Draw or tape collected items in a “Nature Journal.”

Recycling Sorting Game

Objective: Learn how to sort recyclables.

Instructions: Use clean items like bottles, cans, paper, and plastics. Have kids sort them into bins labeled “Plastic,” “Paper,” “Metal,” and “Trash.”

My Earth Promise

Objective: Make a personal promise to help the Earth.

Instructions: Draw a picture showing one way they’ll help (e.g., turning off lights, picking up trash).

Coloring Pages

Objective: Celebrate Earth

Instructions: Color pictures celebrating Earth. Coloring pages here.

3rd-5th Videos

The Story of Stuff: The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world.

Everything You Need to Know About Earth Day: Look at what Earth Day is and why we celebrate it and the importance of looking after the Earth every day of the year, not just on Earth Day.

How to Take Care of the Environment: Check out this video that takes us on a trip through time to see how humans have impacted the environment with their harmful technologies.

3rd-5th Book List

"What a Waste: Trash, Recycling, and Protecting Our Planet" by Jess French

Nonfiction packed with facts and solutions for environmental problems.

"One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia" by Miranda Paul

A true story of a woman who started a recycling movement in Gambia.

"The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge" by Joanna Cole

Ms. Frizzle takes her class on an adventure to understand climate change.

"Energy Island" by Allan Drummond

Based on a true story of a Danish island that became energy independent.

"Heroes of the Environment" by Harriet Rohmer

Features 12 young people who made a real difference in protecting the Earth.

3rd-5th Activities

Create a Recycled Art Project

Objective: Turn “trash” into treasure.

Instructions: Use cardboard, toilet paper rolls, bottle caps, and more to build a robot, animal, or other creation.

Discussion: Talk about reusing and reducing waste.

Make a Mini Compost Bin

Objective: Understand composting and natural cycles.

Instructions: Layer food scraps, shredded paper, and soil in a plastic container. Observe how materials decompose.

Earth Day Acrostic Poem

Objective: Practice writing while thinking about the planet.

Instructions: Write the word EARTH down the side of a page and create a poem using each letter to start a sentence or phrase.

6th-8th Videos

How to Save Our Planet: By understanding our changing world, we improve lives and safeguard our future.

How to Save Our Planet: We're all a part of this amazing planet, but we're changing it like never before.

Earth Day: How it Started and Why it Matters: What Exactly is Earth Day, what has it accomplished, and can it do more?

6th-8th Reading List

"Trash Vortex" (Investigators: Protecting the Earth) by Danielle Smith-Llera

Focuses on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and plastic pollution.

"Eyes Wide Open: Going Behind the Environmental Headlines" by Paul Fleischman

Explores media, politics, and personal responsibility in the climate crisis.

"Plasticus Maritimus: An Invasive Species" by Ana Pêgo & Isabel Minhós Martins

A beautifully illustrated book about plastic pollution and ocean ecosystems.

"We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast (Young Readers Edition)" by Jonathan Safran Foer

A thought-provoking look at how our daily choices impact the environment.

"Flush" by Carl Hiaasen (Fiction)

A mystery/adventure story involving a boy exposing illegal pollution.

6th-8th Activities

Plastic Use Tracker

Objective: Evaluate personal impact on the environment.

Instructions: For one day, track every piece of plastic used. Reflect on what could be reused, replaced, or avoided.

Follow-up: Create a plan to reduce plastic use.

Research + Report: Local Environgmental Issue

Objective: Build awareness of environmental concerns.

Instructions: Choose a local issue (pollution, wildfire prevention, habitat loss). Write a short report or create a poster with:

What the issue is
Why it matters
One way people can help

Design an Eco-Friendly Home

Objective: Apply creativity and sustainability principles.

Instructions: Draw a floor plan for a home that uses solar panels, rainwater collection, and recycled materials. Label all features.

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