🌍✨ Today was one of those magical teaching days that totally surprised me—in the best way. After a 4:50 a.m. toddler wake-up call, I threw together some last-minute Earth Day activities and… they SLAYED. 💁‍♀️ We read, we wrote, we watched (thank you, YouTube), and we got crafty with recycled materials. These Earth Day activities were simple, meaningful, and honestly kind of therapeutic.

Reused Newspaper Earth Day Art

I feel passionate that if you do an art project for Earth Day, it needs to follow the Earth Day guidelines of reuse, reduce, recycle. So, this was PERFECT and SIMPLE!

All you need is:

  • newspaper
  • paint (greens and blues)
  • scissors
  • markers (to trace the shapes on the newspaper)
  • paint brushes
  • shape templates (I did triangles, hearts, circles, and squares)

I called a few students back to the table at a time, so it didn’t get too crazy. They cut out 2-4 shapes from the newspaper and painted them. We let them dry and then I hole-punched them to make a bunting! Keep scrolling to check out the final result!

I can’t take credit for this idea. One of my favorite teachers, Lauren @teachinginstripes, introduced this to me. I LOVE how they turned out!

Earth Day Books

The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle by Alison Inches is super cute! It tells the story of a plastic bottle from its beginnings as crude oil. I love how it mixes a fictional format with nonfiction features. It has a happy ending BUT I think it is still important to talk about what would happen if bottles are not recycled considering Americans used over 50 BILLION plastic bottles last year. We also discussed what we could do to use less! Here are some more of my favorite Earth Day Books (affiliate links)

Earth Day Video

I needed some time to set up for this hands-on activity. So, I found a YouTube video that checked all the boxes.

  • Engaging
  • Informative
  • Long enough to allow me to set up our art project
  • Link to video

Earth Day Memory Game

Low-prep digital memory games with engaging scenes and self-checking questions—perfect for April, Earth Day, and those chaotic spring afternoons.

This is the exact format I use in my classroom—and it saves me every single April.

Grab them here

Here’s what makes it different from a typical matching game:

  • 🖥 Whole group friendly (project it → instant engagement)
  • ⏱ Zero prep (just open and play)
  • 🧠 Built-in questions so you don’t have to think
  • ✔️ Self-checking answers (aka no arguing 😅)

Each game includes:

  • 10 themed scenes (yes—perfect for Earth Day vibes 🌎)
  • Follow-up questions for each scene
  • Google Slides + PowerPoint options

💡 How to Use It for Earth Day

You don’t have to overcomplicate this (please don’t—it’s April).

Here are a few easy ways to plug it in:

  • 🌎 Morning Meeting – quick whole group challenge
  • 🔄 Transition filler – when your schedule is chaos
  • 🧩 Indoor recess / brain break
  • 👯 Partner discussion – “What did you notice?”

Make it feel like an “Earth Day lesson”:

After playing, ask:

  • “What in the picture helps the Earth?”
  • “What could they have done better?”

Boom.
You just turned a game into meaningful discussion without extra prep 👏

Earth Day Writing

My students showed what they had learned from our book, discussions, and the video by writing a letter to the Earth, making a promise to keep it clean! Find the freebie by K is for Kinderrific here. But, you could also use some recycled paper to make it even more Earth Day friendly!

I am obsessed with how this bulletin board turned out. I think it might be my favorite of all time (minus the papers not totally lining up–but I had students help with it.) It worked out because that evening was Open House night!

The best Earth Day activities aren’t the ones that take hours to prep or leave your classroom looking like a craft explosion (hard pass 😅). They’re the ones that actually stick.

Because at the end of the day, Earth Day isn’t just about one cute activity—it’s about helping kids realize that their choices matter. Even small actions—recycling, reusing, noticing the world around them—can make a real impact.

And the good news? You don’t have to do everything to make that happen.

Pick one or two simple Earth Day activities. Keep it manageable. Make it meaningful. Let your students talk, think, and connect.

That’s where the magic is ✨

If you’re looking for something easy to plug in, don’t forget about those low-prep memory games—they’re one of my favorite ways to keep engagement high without adding more to your plate.

👉 And if you try any of these ideas, I’d love to hear how they go!