We Are Thankful for the Earth

1. Maximize love,

Manage stress

• Gratitude:  Gratitude is one of many positive emotions. It’s about focusing on what’s good in our lives and being thankful for the things we have. Gratitude is pausing to notice and appreciate the things that we often take for granted, like having a place to live, food, clean water, friends, family. For Earth Day we did a gratitude project. I am hopeful that this project will inspire ongoing gratitude in my kids for our Earth and its resources. Hope will inspire you and your kids too.

• Take action: Three great ways YOU can eliminate waste and protect your environment is: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

2. Talk, sing and point

• Let’s remember how blessed we are to live on Earth by listening to What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong

• Teacher Maria sings about being thankful and proactive by Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Listen to the songs here.

3.  Read and discuss stories

• The Earth book by Todd Parr is a great one for preschoolers. It also gives the opportunity to discuss the ideas and help children understand the connection of paper bags and trees. Paper is made of trees, but if we reuse or recycle paper, less trees need to be cut down.  Energy usage worms the climate that result in melting the ice lands. Todd Par has a sense of humor. Look for what his idea of cooling himself of in hot summer is.

• Here is another child friendly information on Reduce Reuse Recycle.

4.  Explore through movement and play

•         One of the activities we did with our family is: Took a walk and noticed the things each of us are truly thankful for: trees, flowers, water, animals, sunshine. When we returned home, made a poster about what inspired our gratitude. Perfect for Earth Day or any day. For the poster we decided to write down Earth Day and come up with a word, from what we noticed and appreciated, for each of the letters. Our poster is digital to use less paper.

•     Craft activity with recycled materials.

•     We also enjoyed drawing side by side as taught by Art for Kids Hub

5. Count, group and compare

•       Count your blessings flower. Make a circle and attach as many petals as many things you can think of being thankful for. Parents can write the words on the petals. Or if child is old enough you can write the words on a piece of paper and let children copy it on the petals. Glue the pieces together.

• How many different nature elements have you collected for a nature art? Get the biggest rock you can find, wet it with water. You are ready to arrange the nature element on it for a unique  piece of art. What colour are they? What pattern do you want to use? Leaf, flower, leaf, flower…