At a Glance
This Earth Day post is a complete celebration guide for preschool, kindergarten and other young learners, packed with Earth facts, jokes, discussion starters and cross-curricular learning ideas spanning science, math, literacy, PSHE and outdoor learning. You'll also find low-prep indoor and outdoor activity ideas, book recommendations, a participation certificate and a set of lovely printable Earth Day activities! Celebrated every year on April 22.
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What Is Earth Day?
Earth Day is a global event held every year on April 22 to celebrate our planet and remind everyone how important it is to look after it.
The very first Earth Day took place on April 22, 1970. It was the idea of U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, who teamed up with a young organizer called Denis Hayes to run what they called a “national teach-in on the environment.” Around 20 million Americans took part that day, and within months the U.S. government set up the Environmental Protection Agency and began passing major environmental laws.
Earth Day went global in 1990, and today earthday.org estimates that more than one billion people in over 190 countries take part every single year, making it one of the largest civic events in the world!
Why Is Earth Day Special?
For your little learners, Earth Day is the perfect day to explore some of the biggest and most important ideas in their world!
It gives them a lovely and hopeful reason to notice the natural world around them, to feel connected to the birds at the feeder and the flowers on the walk to school – and to help them to realize and understand that they are part of something bigger.
It is also a lovely opportunity to introduce the idea that small, caring actions really do add up and make a difference. Turning off a tap. Popping a can in the right bin. Picking up one piece of litter.
When children see their own tiny choices as meaningful, they start to see themselves as being able to make a difference in this world – and those ideas are worth planting very early on. Which leads us neatly into all the learning this day can open up.
Learning Opportunities
Earth Day naturally pulls across the whole curriculum, which makes it a super theme for early years. Here’s a look at a few key areas you can explore with your little learners:
Science and Nature
Earth Day is the ideal springboard for talking about living things and the places that they live. Your little learners can explore the basics of habitats (where do different animals live, and what do they need to survive?), have a go at simple plant observations and start noticing how weather, seasons, and living things are all connected.
Even just five minutes pointing out worms, buds, or bees on the way home counts.
Early Math
There is so much countable, sortable, measurable content in the natural world. Count petals on a flower, sort pebbles by size, collect data on different birds at the feeder over a week, or create simple graphs of favorite outdoor things.
Recycling is a beautiful real-world sorting opportunity too!
Literacy and Language
There’s lots of new vocabulary to share with this theme, think: recycle, reuse, pollution, habitat, compost, and conservation.
Read-alouds, role play and simple writing prompts (“one way I can help the Earth is…”) all give children some meaningful reasons to use the new words they are learning.
Empathy and PSHE
Caring for the Earth is, at its heart, caring for other living things. That is a powerful emotional concept for little learners. Conversations about kindness to animals, sharing resources and looking after our classroom or garden all flow naturally from this.
Movement and Outdoor Learning
Celebrating Earth day is great when you’re outside! Nature walks, scavenger hunts, gardening and gross motor games in green spaces all help little ones physically experience what they are learning about.
Did You Know?
Here are a few fun Earth facts to share with your little learners:
Around 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water. This is why our planet looks like a big blue marble from space.
Earth is the only planet in our solar system known to support life. It has just the right mix of air, water, and temperature, and a cozy spot from the sun that keeps things not too hot and not too cold.
Our planet is around 4.5 billion years old. Scientists worked that out by studying ancient rocks.
The very first Earth Day in 1970 brought out 20 million people across the United States. today more than one billion people in over 190 countries celebrate it every year.
- Earth is wrapped in a blanket of air called the atmosphere, that works like a shield. Around 10 million kilograms of little space rocks (meteoroids) burn up harmlessly in it every single day before they can reach the ground.
Earth Day Jokes
Earth Day feels even more fun when your little learners get to laugh along with it. Here’s a few Earth themed jokes you may want to share with your little ones (I only collated these, I didn’t write them – please don’t shout at me!):
- How can you tell the ocean is friendly? Because it waves!
- What kind of plant grows in your hand? A palm tree!
- What kind of bow can’t be tied? A rainbow!
- Why are people always tired on Earth Day? Because they just finished a March.
- What did the little tree say to the big tree when he was being mean? Leaf me alone!
Earth Day Printable Activities
I’ve put together a lovely bundle of Earth Day printables to cover counting, sorting, fine motor skills and a simple Earth craft – all designed to slot straight into Earth Day lessons, morning tubs or a home Earth Day celebration.
Click on the images below to grab an Earth-themed activity:
Other Fun Ways to Celebrate
There are so many wonderful ways to celebrate Earth Day that don’t require a printout or a special trip! All of the ideas below are low-prep, use everyday materials, and work brilliantly in a classroom or at home.
Indoor Activities
Junk Model Recycling Challenge:
Save a few days of clean recycling (cardboard tubes, cereal boxes, bottle tops, yogurt pots etc.) and tip it all out on the table. Invite your little ones to turn the pile into something: a robot, a rocket, a monster, a bug hotel. The only rule is that nothing new can be added. Builds creative problem solving, fine motor skills and an early understanding of recycling.
Playdough Planet Earth:
Mix a batch of blue and green playdough (there’s a super easy recipe here) and let your little learners roll their own tiny planet Earths, using the blue for oceans and the green for land. Use a small globe or a picture of Earth from space as a reference. Fantastic for hand strength, color recognition and early geography.
Reuse Sensory Bin: Fill a tub with some torn-up colored paper from the recycling bin, cardboard scraps, bottle tops, corks, etc. Add scoops or tongs and little containers. Children can pour, sort and explore while you chat about the meaning of the word reuse. Brilliant for some sensory exploration, fine motor development and learning some new words!
Outdoor Activities
Litter Pick-Up Walk: Adult supervision is required with this one. Gloves on, little bags ready and head out to your local park, street, or school grounds and pick up any litter you can safely reach and remove. Tally what you find at the end if you fancy a mini math moment. This activity is great for some real-world community kindness, gross motor skills – and the confidence they get through that sense of “I did something that matters.”
Nature Scavenger Hunt: Put together a simple list (a leaf, a stone, a feather, something yellow, something soft, an insect, a stick, a flower etc.) and head outside. Children tick or cross items off as they find them. Supports observational skills, matching, and some early data handling.
Leaf and Bark Rubbings: Take paper and crayons outside, find interesting leaves, bark and other textures – then let your little artists lay the paper over the top and rub the side of a crayon on it to reveal the pattern! Super for observation, fine motor control and slowing down and noticing the details of the natural world around them.
Ideas from Around the Web
If you’d like a few more ways to celebrate, here’s a few simple ideas from some trusted sites:
Pine Cone Bird Feeder –
A classic nature craft. Little ones coat a pine cone with peanut butter (or a nut-free alternative), roll it in bird seed, tie on a string and hang it outside. You get weeks of bird-watching out of one afternoon’s work! Huge for fine motor skills, empathy for wildlife and connecting children to the local birds. (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)Make a Stained Glass Earth – Using nothing more than wax paper, tissue paper scraps, paper plates, and glue, children create a gorgeous “stained glass” Earth ornament that catches the light when hung in a window. Lovely for fine motor practice, color work and sparking conversations about Earth. (NASA Space Place)
- Wildflower Seed Balls – Mix soil with a little flour and water, roll the mixture into balls about the size of golf balls and coat them in wildflower seeds. Children can then pop them into a spare patch of garden or flowerbed and watch as the flowers bloom in the weeks that follow. A beautifully hands-on way to help pollinators. (National Trust)
Simple Classroom Display & Group Activity Ideas
Here are some easy ways to bring your Earth theme to life in a group setting:
“Our Promise to the Earth” Pledge Wall:
Cut out a large paper Earth for the center of a bulletin board. Each child decorates a leaf, petal, light bulb or speech bubble with one small thing they will do to help the planet (turn off the lights, pick up litter, not waste food etc.) and adds it around the Earth.
Collaborative Torn Paper Earth Mural: Put a huge paper circle in the middle of the carpet or table and let the whole class contribute torn blue and green paper to fill it in. You might need to roughly draw on a few continents as a guide. When it’s done, everyone gets a small piece of ownership and it will look awesome on display!
Class Sorting Station: Recycle, Reuse, Rubbish: Set up three labeled buckets or hoops. Provide a pile of clean everyday items you might throw away (plastic bottle, cereal box, banana peel, food wrapper, old toy, sock, yogurt pot etc.). Children work in pairs or small groups to sort each item into the right place and explain why hey think it goes there.
Circle Time: “What Does the Earth Give Us?”: Sit in a circle and pass around a small globe or a picture of Earth. As children hold it, they say one thing the Earth gives us (trees, water, food, a home, animals, air, fun times!) A lovely way to reflect.
Earth Day Reading List – Earth Books to Explore Together
Books are one of the most powerful tools you have for bringing any theme to life, and there are loads of absolute gems for Earth Day – here’s a few:
The Earth Book – Todd Parr
A beautifully bold and simple picture book with one big idea per page. It shows small, kid-friendly things we can all do to look after the planet. Printed on recycled paper.
Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for the Earth – Mary McKenna Siddals
An alphabet-driven ride through everything you can throw in a compost heap. Great for vocabulary, letter recognition and early science.
Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth – Oliver Jeffers
A gentle guide to our planet, written by Jeffers for his newborn son. I just love his illustrations and this one has a great message about looking after each other and this home that we share.
What a Waste: Trash, Recycling, and Protecting Our Planet – Jess French
A vibrant, fact-packed book that demystifies waste, recycling, and environmental issues in a way. Great for dipping in and out of with the little ones who ask the bigger questions.
Discussion Starters
A few well-chosen questions can turn a simple activity into a rich conversation that builds language and thinking skills. Here are some open-ended starters to use with your little learners around Earth Day:
What do you love most about being outside? Why?
If you could thank the Earth for one thing it gives us, what would it be and why?
Imagine you are a tiny bird (or any wild animal…). What would you need to live a happy life? How can we help?
What is one little thing you can do today that would help the Earth?
If you met the Earth and it could talk, what do you think it would ask us to do?
Earth Day Certificate of Participation
I’ve made a little certificate you can use to help celebrate your learners’ efforts with a cheerful keepsake! I’ve kept it simple as I know too well how time consuming writing the dates and signing a class worth or certificates can be…
Click the button below to download and print an Earth Day Certificate of Participation:
Earth Day Final Thoughts
Earth Day is a great chance for little learners to notice the world around them and feel like they can play a part of looking after it.
Whether you and your little ones work through a handful of the printables, roll up your sleeves for a junk model recycling challenge, head outside for a scavenger hunt, plant a seed in a recycled pot, or hang a stained glass Earth in the window, every small thing counts.
And the truth is, caring for the planet is something we can do every single day, not just on April 22. What will you and your little learners be doing to celebrate Earth Day this year? Let me know in the comments below
Enjoy and let’s nurture those neurons!
And if you want to see what other special days are coming up soon – as well as grab a few choice activities – you can check out our Special Day Calendar here.
Frequently Asked Questions About Earth Day
Earth Day 2026 is on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. The date is the same every year, as April 22 was chosen as the permanent date when the event was founded in 1970. Many schools and community groups extend the celebration across Earth Week, with major activities running from Saturday, April 18 through April 25.
The official theme of Earth Day 2026, announced by EARTHDAY.ORG, is “Our Power, Our Planet.” The theme highlights that environmental protection is driven by everyday people taking action in their homes, schools, and communities, and it encourages collective community-scale climate solutions.
April 22 was chosen by the founder of Earth Day, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, along with organizer Denis Hayes, because it fell between college Spring Break and final exams, maximizing student participation in the original 1970 teach-in. The date has been kept ever since as a consistent global moment for environmental action.
Earth Day was founded in 1970 by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, who was deeply concerned about pollution and environmental damage. He worked with a young Harvard graduate student named Denis Hayes, who served as the national coordinator. The first Earth Day drew 20 million Americans into the streets and helped lead directly to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Little learners do best with simple, hands-on Earth Day activities: planting a seed in a recycled pot, going on a litter pick-up walk, making a pine cone bird feeder, sorting recycling, or reading Earth-themed picture books together. Printable worksheets, crafts, and sensory play are also brilliant for reinforcing concepts like reduce, reuse, and recycle in age-appropriate ways.
Earth Day is important for young children because it introduces environmental stewardship in a warm, age-appropriate way. It helps little ones understand that they are part of the natural world, that their small actions matter, and that caring for the planet is something they can genuinely do. Building these habits early tends to shape lifelong attitudes toward kindness, responsibility, and nature.
