Celebrating Earth Day from Home

by Trista Arney

If you’re looking for some inspiration on how to celebrate Earth Day this year (or even expand it into Earth Week!) we’ve got a quick round up of some great ideas.

Get Involved in the City Nature Challenge

Take photos of flora and fauna anywhere in the Calgary area and post them to iNaturalist.ca.  The challenge runs from April 24-27. Since this challenge is about showcasing urban nature it is a great way to document nature close to home while still respecting the current guidelines for physical distancing in Alberta.

Enjoy your community with Nature Walks / Scavenger Hunts

A great way to get exercise while respecting physical distancing is going for walks in your neighborhood. Try mixing it up with a nature walk or scavenger hunt, like these examples:

• Nature Scavenger Hunt
• Bug Hunt
• Nature Walk

Reading Resources

What better way to celebrate Earth Day than by reading about our amazing planet and ways we can help the environment?  The Calgary Public Library has so many digital resources available, even with branches closed. You’ll need your library card to log in to the following resources:

• BookFlix has an entire section on Animals and Nature as well as a section on Earth and Sky
• Kanopy has episodes from several shows about the Earth like “Franklin’s Earth Day”, Dinosaur Train’s “What’s at the Center of the Earth”, and an entire series called “Curiosity Quest Goes Green”
• National Geographic Kids explore videos, pictures, books, and magazines from the National Geographic Kids collection

eBooks

• One Plastic Bag by Miranda Pauls
• What a Waste by Jess French
• Mr. King’s Things by Geneviève Côté
• The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
• Just Grace Goes Green by Charise Mericle Harper
• What Does it Mean to be Green by Lisa S. French

Craft Ideas

Here are some project ideas to spark your family’s creativity

• Earth Day Paper Plate Weaving
  Supplies: Paper plate, green and blue yarn or string
• Earth Day Paper Plate Heart Weaving
  Supplies: Paper plate, paints or crayons, hole punch, red/pink yarn
• Stained Glass Earth
  Supplies: White glue, food coloring, wax paper, string, toothpick
• Earth Day Mural
  Supplies: Free printable, colouring supplies
• Earth Cookies
  Supplies: Your favourite sugar cookie dough recipe, food colouring

Learning Activities

If you’re looking for something educational to engage your children in for Earth Day here are a few suggestions to get you started.

• Fact or Opinion Worksheet – Separate facts from opinion about Earth Day
• Earth Day Bingo – Printable Bingo game with an empty card to create your own
• Earth Day Promises Writing Activity – Writing prompts about how children can help the Earth
• Environmental Report Card – A writing project to assess your home or other location
• Writing Prompts – 12 writing prompt ideas, great for journaling
• Oil Spill Clean Up Experiment – Science experiment to talk about oil spills using kitchen supplies
• Water Cycle in a Bag – Create a simple water cycle on your window with a sandwich bag
• Seed Germination – Explore how seeds grow into plants using a jar, wet paper towel, and seeds
• Earth Rangers App – This free app encourages children to undertake challenges to have a positive impact on the environment