Parents: This year Earth Day will be Saturday, April 22, 2023. This day is celebrated annually on April 22nd with events worldwide. Earth Day raises awareness for environment protection and care of our planet. The first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, is considered to be the birthday of the modern environmental protection movement.
Earth Day was founded by Senator Gaylord Nelson to promote ecology and respect for life on the planet as well as to encourage awareness of the growing problems of air, water, and soil pollution. The first celebrations took place at 2,000 colleges and universities, roughly 10,000 primary and secondary schools, and hundreds of communities in the United States. However, today more than one billion people worldwide take part in activities on Earth Day in more than 193 countries. Some areas have Earth Day celebrations all week.
Each year the theme is different. This year’s theme is “Protect Our Species.” It is designed to draw attention to the rapid extinction of species around the world.
Students are learning at their schools what they can do to help protect our planet and reduce pollution. Why don’t you and your children join all the other people in celebrating this day by improving the environment in some way? Join one of the many Earth Day events in your community. You could be part of a group working to improve city, state, or national parks. Other groups clean up streams, plant gardens at schools, and pick up street trash. And it will be a great opportunity to have some all-important family time!
Here are some at-home ways your family can celebrate Earth Day. Whatever you elect to do will be hands-on learning about the environment for your children.
- Take a walk in nature and simply appreciate it while stopping to pick up discarded bottles and recycling them.
- Plant a tree for every member of your family. The trees will remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Thirty percent of all Earth Day celebrants plant trees.
- Build a compost pile. Find a section of your yard in a back corner and start putting all the leaves and grass cuttings from your yard in the pile. It will decompose and you’ll be able to put it in the soil for other plants in your yard.
- Make bird feeders. This can be done by collecting pine cones and dipping them in peanut butter or honey and covering them with birdseed.
- Take a tech break and turn off all electronic devices to conserve electricity.
More Fun Environmental Facts and Activities
Earth Day is not the only day in April focused on the environment. There is also Arbor Day. It is celebrated on the final Friday of every April. It originated in the 1870s when the secretary of the Nebraska Territory and others living there were upset by the lack of trees that they had left behind as they moved West. Trees were needed for windbreaks, fuel, building material, and shade.
On the first Arbor Day in 1872, more than one million trees were planted in Nebraska. Since then, most states and many countries around the world observe Arbor Day to celebrate trees and plant them for a greener tomorrow. Many schools used to have the tradition of giving every student a tree to plant in their yard.
Be sure that your children understand the great importance of trees to every one of us, especially their role in reducing pollution and producing the oxygen we breathe. Point out that it takes seven or eight trees to make the oxygen one person needs for a year. You can go to a nearby park or playground to count the trees to discover how many people would get oxygen from the trees there. Plus, tell them that the trees with the largest leaves produce the most oxygen. See if they can find those trees.
Here are some different activities that your family might enjoy doing for Earth Day or Arbor Day.
- Go to the library and check out a book about trees that is fun to read. One suggestion is The Magic & Mystery of Trees by Jen Green.
- Visit awhiskandtwowands.com. Then search for how to make Earth Day smoothies.
- Search for a recipe for dirt pudding with gummy worms and enjoy a creepy, crawly dessert.
- Find out online how to make Earth Day crayons. Parental supervision is required for this activity as it uses the oven.
- You’ll find songs to sing for Earth Day on YouTube.
- Find “Earth Day Jokes for Kids” on distractify.com. You’ll have some laughs with jokes like “How can you tell the Earth is friendly?” Answer: Because it waves.
Parents should send questions and comments to dearteacher@dearteacher.com. To learn more about helping children succeed in school, visit the Dear Teacher website.
©Compass Syndicate Corporation, 2023