This year, Earth Day falls on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2015. Earth Day is a great time to explain to your preschool students how they can take care of the earth. You don't even have to make it just a day; you can celebrate Earth Day that entire week with your students.
Young students are generally really carrying. They like to help out their friends and family. Earth Day presents you with a great opportunity to introduce your young students to the idea of caring for the world around them. Here are a few activities that your students will be able to relate to and understand that you can do this Earth Day with them.
Trash Walk
Before you go on a trash talk, sit down and talk with your students about what you do with your trash when you are inside. Ask them why they put their trash into trash cans. Ask them what they think your classroom would look like if they don't throw their trash away.
Use this conversation to activate their knowledge on the subject of trash. Then, ask your kids what you should do with your trash outside and what it would look like if people didn't use trash cans outside. This could be a great time to share some visuals of what it looks like when people don't clean up after themselves.
Then explain that you are going to go on a trash walk around your school. Make it clear that they are not to pick up anything sharp, but to get you if they see any usual trash. Assign a couple of students to hold plastic trash bags, and put gloves on everyone before you go outside.
After you trash walk, talk about the types of trash you saw and what your students can do to keep their playground and outside space clean.
Water Wasting Exercise
Another great topic to touch on during Earth Day is the idea of conserving water. Preschools are notorious for taking ten minutes to brush their teeth and wash their hands, all while the water is running.
Ask your students who leaves the water on when they brush their teeth. Count the number of students that leave the water on and write it on your whiteboard.
Then, give every student a small paper cup. Bring one student to the front of the classroom and have them hold a toothbrush. Then, have about two-thirds of your students stand up. Explain that all the students that are standing up could have used the water that was left running while one person brushed their teeth to fill their cup with water.
This is a great way for your students to visually see how much water they are wasting. You can then talk about number of students who leave the water running, and how if, for example, 12 students leave the water running, that is enough water for everyone standing up to have 12 glasses of water.
Allow your students to react to this information, and then talk about what they can do differently. Help guide them to the idea that they don't need to leave the water running for so long when they brush their teeth or wash their hands.
These are just two great Earth Day activities that you can do with your students. Try to make all the Earth Day activities you do with your preschool students something they an relate to and understand.
Share17 March 2015
My father is an evangelical minister. He began pastoring churches when I was an infant. Since then, he’s never taken a break from this calling that means so much to him. When I was young, he dreamed about sending me to a Christian university when I entered college. Unfortunately, due to financial constraints, I needed to attend a public university near my home. However, he’s still handed down his religious heritage to me. If you have strong religious beliefs, you should consider sending your kids to a religious school. In doing so, your children can become educated about the values and beliefs that you hold so dear to your heart. On this blog, you will learn how to search for the right religious school for your children.
