Exciting Earth Day Ideas for a Fun Mini-Unit Study & More

Want some exciting Earth Day ideas for special learning fun with your kids?

Check out the creative ways to use these books, activities, and other resources for a fun mini-unit study to celebrate Earth Day (or any day you want to inspire your kids to take better care of our planet).

Disclaimer:  I received this product for free and was compensated for my time. As always, I'm honestly sharing my opinions and experiences. I was not required to provide a positive review.

Early each Spring, I start to gather resources and Earth Day ideas to put together a special celebration with my boys. Over the years, we've enjoyed some wonderful ways to learn more about our planet and environment.

This year, I'm ecstatic to share our updated plans and how our Candlewick Press books have really boosted our Earth Day celebration. These resources have been the perfect spine for our fun mini-unit study.

Why A Mini-Unit Study is the Perfect Way to Celebrate with Kids

Did you know it's the perfect time to celebrate Earth Day with your kids? April 22, 2020 is the 50th Anniversary of the first Earth Day celebration.

If you'd like to honor this occasion, a mini-unit study is a magnificent way to help your kids learn about why Earth Day was started and what to do to help take care of our environment. This type of learning focuses on and explores one topic. You'll get just enough information to keep it fun and interesting without making it ho-hum boring 😉

I love to boost learning at home with my boys by celebrating fun holidays. These days are fun, engaging, and a bit out of the ordinary. Some of the best ways to get kids excited about learning!

In our homeschool, we'll be setting aside the week of April 20-24 to use these Earth Day ideas and celebrate. That's the beauty of a mini-unit study! You can extend it over a week or shorten to just one day of learning fun.

As always, do what works best for your family and schedule 🙂

We will, however, continue to use our Candlewick Press books throughout the year to keep the learning fun going. These resources are packed with information and ideas for learning about our environment.

Let's Make Your Earth Day (& Environmental Studies) Shine!

Ready to plan and prepare for teaching your kids about our planet and the environment? You can use this free instant download (just click and print!) to gather all of your Earth Day ideas and resources.

TAP HERE or on the image below to get your FREE Earth Day Mini-Unit Study Planner page!

Once you print out your Earth Day Mini-Unit Study planning page, grab your favorite writing utensil. You'll want to jot down these resources after check them all out 😉

First, you'll find some sneak peeks of the Candlewick Press books we're using for our Earth Day mini-unit study.

Then, you'll find additional resources that you may want to include to boost the learning fun even more. You'll find Earth Day ideas for activities, videos, and snacks.

Oh, and I left space for you to add any extra ideas that you'd like to include in your celebration of Earth Day with kids.

Incredible Candlewick Press Books with Earth Day & Environmental Themes

These books are great for a range of ages. I begin this list with books recommended for younger ages and then work up to resources that your older kids will love.

Also, I've added suggested activities to extend the learning fun with these books. Feel free to add these ideas to your Earth Day Mini-Unit Study plan.

Thank You Bees by Toni Yuly:  Sweet book filled with reminders of how different creatures and our planet provides for us. My boys loved the last message with the child thanking the Earth.

Activity to pair with this book:  Write a thank you note to our planet. Your child can draw a picture to show how much they love the Earth. Then, jot down your child's message or write it out in dotted letters to trace. If your child can writeon their own, encourage a personalized message.

Who's Hiding in the River? and Who's Hiding in the Woods? both by Katharine McEwen:  These lift-the-flap books engage kids as they explore the pages to discover the creatures hiding in their habitats. Your kids will learn facts about the ecosystem and why these creatures are important.

Activity to pair with these books:  Have a puppet show! Recycle empty paper towel or toilet paper rolls by decorating to look like creatures from these books. Invite your kids to chat about the habitats and these creatures.

My Green Day: 10 Green Things I Can Do Today by Melanie Walsh:  This book combines simple facts with remarkable reminders of ways to take better care of our planet. Tremendous conversation starters with environmental themes!

Activity to pair with this book:  Work with your kids to make a list of at least 10 things your family can do to be more green. Then, pick one and start today!

Animazes: Extraordinary Animal Migrations illustrated by Melissa Castrillon:  Help your kids see the connection between the health of our planet and its creatures. This book invites hands-on learning as kids wind through the mazes and collecting facts.

Activity to pair with this book:  Invite your child to find a special stick or feather to use in their role as Animal Maze Migrators. As your child passes a fact with their tool, read it aloud and discuss it.

Planet Earth illustrated by Bomboland:  Whew! You'll go on a deep dive with this book! Filled with facts and figures, your kids will be mesmerized by the mix of gorgeous illustrations and lift-the-flaps.Terrific hands-on fun for your older learners!

Make sure to leave plenty of time to discuss what you've learned. My boys and I are slowly working through this book to fully process and chat about our discoveries.

Activity to pair with this book:  Start a Planet Earth notebook or journal. Study each page of this book and sketch what you see. Then, jot down helpful reminders and ideas.

Playing with Collages by Jeannie Baker:  You'll revisit the ideas and projects in this book for years to come. So many fascinating ways to create beautiful artwork and collages with materials found in nature and your home!

This book is fabulous for inspiring creativity and outside the box thinking. And I'm all about encouraging growth mindset skills whenever I can!

Activity to pair with this book:  Select one collage idea. Go on a hunt (indoors or outdoors) for materials you'd like to incorporate into your artwork. Once you've gathered your materals, study your materials for inspiration. Sketch out your ideas and follow the tips in this book for creating a marvelous collage 🙂

More Earth Day Ideas to Enrich Your Mini-Unit Study

Books are a super start to your mini-unit study. These additional resources will round out your experiences.

(Yes, I'm sharing some printable pages. I give you tips on creative ways to recycle these pages.)

Free Earth Day Cootie Catcher:  I created this printable activity to use with my boys to boost our celebration. I wanted a special hands-on, interactive way to get my boys chatting about our planet and the environment.

Earth Day Coloring Activities: These free color-by-symbol pages are amazing ways to help your kids become familiar with common environmental symbols. You can also use to prompt cool conversations!

Free Earth Day Coloring Pages:  These activities include important messages about taking better care of our planet (and are super fun to complete!).

Earth Day Tracing Pages:  Awesome activities with Earth Day themes for all ages, especially your young learners.

Free Earth Day I Spy Printable Activities:  Help your kids learn about Earth Day and practice math skills with this free pages.

20+ Amazing Ways to Celebrate Earth Day with Kids This Year:  Here's where I share our favorite Earth Day snacks (I like to keep it healthy and make the Earth Day fruit plate that my boys adore) and videos. Since we'll be celebrating the 50th anniversary, I'm sharing the history of Earth Day video here:

How do you help your kids learn about taking better care of our environment and planet?

Okay, now I want to know all about your Earth Day celebration (or if you have any questions about these Candlewick Press books! Share in the comments 🙂

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