Earth Day Fun!

Celebrating Earth Day at YSA is always filled with so many learning opportunities that really grab the kiddos attention. We celebrate at YSA by centering a curriculum theme around Earth Day and what it means to take care of the planet. The children really love learning about Earth, recycling, and taking care of the planet. Here are a few things that you can do at home with your child during the month of April to raise even more interest about our awesome planet.

Preschoolers love to be in charge, am I right?! So, when we talk about how they can be in charge of keeping their planet safe, they are all for it! Like so much that my own preschooler will say in utter disgust “There is some litter again mom! Why do people not take care of the Earth! Its so sad, right?!” This is a constant conversation we have anytime he sees trash outside. When we can, we do try to pick up trash while using caution. This is such a great conversation to have with your preschooler. Make them take ownership of taking care of their planet. Talking with them on how to handle their own trash is so important. When you are at the park having lunch, make it a point to talk about keeping track of their trash so they do not litter, teach them how to tell people if they accidently drop trash, talk about recycling! Even some parks have separate trash cans for recycling. Giving them some control and purpose can really encourage them to leave places better than they found them.

A fun art project you can do with your preschooler is to use recyclables to create art masterpieces. Here is another opportunity to discuss recycling with your preschooler. After separating those materials out together, you can then have your child use some handy glue to assemble a recycled art sculpture. We are working on these throughout the building this month so I know some will be raving about how much fun they had doing this in class! Why not do it at home as well!

Another favorite preschooler art project is to make a coffee filter Earth. You take a dry, unused coffee filter and have your child use blue and green markers to color their very own Earth. After they have colored in the land and water, they then take a spray bottle filled with water and slowly soak the coffee filter. This allows for the blue and green colors to mold together, creating some really neat and colorful Earths. After allowing the work of art to dry, these are great to hang in a window!

Preschoolers with a passion can take over the world! Teaching them at home about taking care of the planet is important and can be done in such a fun way. They really do love learning about how Earth works, its properties, and how to keep it healthy! So, this year please take a minute to chat with your preschooler on how you as a family can take care of the planet and make a difference.

Ms. Whitney
Lead Pre-Kindergarten Teacher
Curriculum Coordinator