Arbor Day for Kids

Arbor Day is a day dedicated to the planting and appreciation of trees. It is celebrated on the last Friday in April in the United States. The first Arbor Day was celebrated on April 10, 1872, in Nebraska. More than one million trees were planted on that day. Arbor Day is now celebrated in all 50 states and in many other countries around the world.

Arbor Day is a reminder of the importance of trees to our environment. Trees provide us with oxygen, clean air, and water. They also help to regulate the climate and provide habitat for wildlife. Trees can also beautify our communities and make them more livable.

Kids can take part in Arbor Day by planting a tree or learning more about trees in your yard, playground or town. (Maybe also climbing a tree if the weather is nice.) Or try a tree-related scavenger hunt like this one from Homeschool of 1.

Woo Jr. has lots of great printables about Arbor Day, including fact sheets, leaf identification, a page for doing research about the state tree of a state, a word search, a crossword and more. This is a great place to start building your lessons.

Raising Our Kids has a good collection of Arbor Day coloring sheets, as does Best Coloring Pages for Kids. Or grab a word search from Monster Word Search.

And of course there are all sorts of tree related crafts that you can make to cap off your Arbor Day celebration (or make while you’re reading or watching The Lorax, of course!). There’s a nice collection of tree crafts for Arbor Day or any other time available from Fun Family Crafts. Or have kiddos draw their favorite tree and share a story about it.

How about making a chocolate popcorn tree for a snack? Get the instructions from Hungry Happenings.

Last month I shared a collection of beach crafts that used items from the beach like seashells and sand. This month’s collection is all about beach animals and things you might see at the beach that don’t require beachy materials to make. In fact you’ve probably got what you need to make most of these beach crafts in your house already.

How about paper plates? With a paper plate you can make this cute watercolor seashell from The Educator’s Spin on It, or an adorable seagull like this one from Glued to My Crafts.

Add some white beans and you can make paper plate sand dollars like Crafts by Amanda. Or use a paper plate as a frame for a sweet beach scene like this crab and turtle one from Artsy Craftsy Mom, which includes a downloadable template and instructions to make it super easy.

Or grab a paper plate and some bubble wrap to make a jellyfish like this one from Happy Toddler Playtime. If you have paper bowls instead of plates, you can also make a jellyfish from one of those, like Natural Beach Living did.

Use your stash of craft sticks and googly eyes to make crabs, fish, sharks and more with this craft idea from The Keeper of the Cheerios.

I love this little crab made with a cardboard tube from Hunny I’m Home. With this same idea I’ll bet you could make lots of different creatures.

Grab some construction paper to make the loopy tentacles on this watercolor jellyfish from Craftsy Hacks. Or make a stained glass jellyfish like this one from Life Anchored.

Make easy puffy paint to make these fun fluffy starfish from I Heart Crafty Things, or use cupcake liners to make cute little crabs (also from I Heart Crafty Things).

Turn an old pool noodle into some super cute fish with this tutorial from Happy Toddler Playtime.

And if you’ve got some leftover yarn lying around, make pompoms and turn them into turtles like these from Craftsy Hacks. (And check out my post on different ways to make pompoms if you need a refresher!)

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