4 Earth Day Home School Activities for Kids & Parents

Helping your kids learn about the Earth is one of the most valuable gifts you can give them. Whether your home school your kids or they’re simply home, for now, Earth Day is a great opportunity to teach them something meaningful about their world and how to care for it.

Use these 4 Earth Day home school activities to teach your kids lessons that will impact their future.

Create a Compost/Worm Bin

Lesson: Learn about compost, what creates healthy soil, and how waste affects climate by creating a worm bin or a compost bin.

Help your kids understand the intricacies of soil and the impact of waste with this easy lesson. Use the PBS lessons below to open a discussion about recycling, composting, and how worms work in the soil. Talk about how waste is harmful to the environment and about how many things humans use can actually be reused via composting or recycling.

Once you explain the compost’s role in soil, discuss the value of soil preservation. Earthworms are an important part of creating useful soil. Help them understand this with the lesson below.

For your activity, create a worm compost bin for your own backyard in under $40. Let your kids help you! They’ll be in awe at watching the worms do their work.

Materials:

• Recycling and Composting, Grades K-12, PBS
• Earth Worms at Work, Grades 1-3, PBS

Activity:

Create a worm compost bin for under $40 using these instructions from On this Trail.

Plant a Garden — from Patio to Plate

Lesson: Learn about the growing process, seeds, and local eating.

No matter how old your kid is, there is a science lesson in the garden. This Earth Day, plant a container garden with your kid for them to be responsible for. As you do so, talk through how seeds develop, how photosynthesis works, and more (depending on their grade level). Then, look forward to your harvest. Discuss sustainable eating practices and talk about why growing your own food helps the environment.

Materials:

• Plants Growing from Seed to Flower, Grades K- 5, PBS
• Adopting Sustainable Food Practices, Grades 3-12, PBS

Activity:

Build a container garden just for your kid with this easy to assemble garden kit. Personalized plant options on the website.

Build a Bug Motel

Lesson: Learn about biodiversity & endangered animals by building a habitat for helpful garden bugs or local endangered animals.

Biodiversity is an important part of climate stability. By fostering biodiversity, we can help the earth heal itself. Use the lesson below to talk about biodiversity and the role of different animals (bugs, pollinators, mammals, etc.) in different locations. Then, introduce the idea of an endangered animal and explain how one missing link can cause the whole ecosystem to falter.

For the activity, create a haven for a bug or animal of your choosing. This can be a bee home, a birdhouse, or a ladybug motel. Let your kid choose the animal and encourage them to check in on the home regularly.

Materials:

• Biodiversity Science Video, Grades 4-12, PBS
• Exploring Endangered Species, Grades 1-4, PBS

Activity:

Build an insect home using these instructions from In Habitat.

Grow for Pollinators

Lesson: Learn about how pollination works and how to be an ally for pollinators by planting plants for pollinators.

Pollinators are an essential part of our world. They are essential for plant’s growth and are a vital link in our ecosystems. Now, during climate change, they face issues that threaten their survival.

Use the lesson materials to learn about pollination and discuss why pollinators are an important part of our planet. Then, be an ally to pollinators by planting herb companion plants to attract pollinators like dill, chives, and lemon verbena (full list below).

Materials:

• Flight of the Pollinators, Grades 1-5, PBS
• Why Protect Pollinators, Grades 4-10, PBS

Activity:

Grow pollinator plants — on its own or as a companion to your garden. One of our favorite ideas is to designate 1-2 plants in your container garden to be your pollinator plants.

Regardless of what you choose to teach your kids this Earth Day, the important thing is that you teach them to value and respect Mother Earth. Happy Earth Day to you and your family! Also, let us know how the Earth Day Home School Activities go! 🙂