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Fun Ways To Get Your Montessori Students Outside And Connect To Nature On Earth Day

21st April 2023

Earth Day is a special day to celebrate our planet and everything it does for us. It’s a day to remember how important it is to take care of the earth and its resources. This year, Earth Day falls on April 22, 2023. According to blog.peachjar.com, in 2022, by avoiding the unnecessary use of 13 billion sheets of paper it saved around 1.5 Million Trees.
 

Earth Day 2022
Source: https://blog.peachjar.com/10-ways-your-schools-can-celebrate-earth-day
 

This earth day, teachers should not only teach children to plant trees but to teach them to use paper only when it’s necessary and teach them the motto “Plant Trees, Save Earth”. Now let’s get to know some of the fun ways you can help your young learners to celebrate Earth’s Day and teach them the importance of this day as well.

1. Get your students outside

One of the best ways to celebrate Earth Day is to get your students outside. Students can learn about the earth and its many wonders while they appreciate the fresh air and sunshine. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Have a picnic lunch outside.

• Go on a nature walk and look for signs of spring.

• Plant a tree or flower together.

• Make a recycled craft or artwork.

• Learn about composting and start a compost bin for your school.

• Have a school-wide recycling day.

• Make Earth Day cards or posters to hang up around your school.

2. Talk about the importance of taking care of the earth

Once you get your students outside and have them start to appreciate the earth, it is essential to have a discussion about why it is important to take care of the earth. Earth Day gives students a fantastic opportunity to discuss environmental issues, including the consequences of global warming and air pollution.

A good way to start the conversation is to find out what your students already know about the subject. Ask them questions to get a better understanding of their knowledge and for further exploration.

Once you’ve explored what your students already know, introduce the international initiatives such as the Paris Agreement and advise them on the importance of their commitment to protecting the environment. Talk about what they can do in their daily lives to help improve their respective communities and how the smallest action can make a difference.

In addition, discuss the roles of renewable energy sources, recycling, and sustainability. Explain how the conservation of energy and resources can significantly reduce the negative effects of climate change.

Involve students in activities such as researching environmental issues, coming up with conservation solutions, and supporting local initiatives. Invite community members and eco-experts to participate in the discussion to help students learn more about the issue.

3. Bring the outdoors inside

Now that you and your students have discussed the importance of taking care of our planet, it’s time to go back inside and look for ways to bring the outdoors in.

  • This could be as simple as collecting pieces of nature, like twigs, rocks, flowers, leaves, and stones, for indoor experiments and crafts. Give your young learners some empty jars and let them fill those jars with all the collections they have.
  • Before coming inside the classroom you can also visit some local libraries or a bookstore and pick up some books related to educational field guides and with the help of those books you can start a conversation related to the environment, plants, and even animals in the classroom.

You can use your imagination and let students also use their imagination while narrating everything related to the environment or you can take the digital route and with the help of Google, you can go on virtual field trips as well.

4. Time For Some Action For Students

Making Earth Day an interactive learning experience is a great way to get your Montessori students to understand the importance of our planet on a deeper level.

Let your students create their own eco-friendly crafts and experiments that help to reduce their environmental impact. Ideas like building a birdhouse, making a terrarium, starting a compost bin, or having an outdoor nature activity are not only fun, but they can also teach your Montessori students more about the environment.

Additionally, incorporating a hands-on approach to discovering and learning about nature can be a great way to prepare for the upcoming Earth Day celebration. Take your students for a hike, explore a nature park, go on a nature scavenger hunt, or test the quality of your local waterway. Immersion in nature provides your students with an opportunity to observe, reflect, and discover the beauty of our world, first-hand.

5. Let the kids get creative

Another great activity to try with your Montessori students on Earth Day is an art-based project.

Give your students the task to express the likeness of their environment through the medium of creativity. They can be creative as much as possible, they can make some artwork or some banner or poster which states some inspiring message for the world to practice so that they can make the Earth a healthy and breathable space.

They can even come up with their own lyrical song related to Earth Day or they can create some speech and present them in front of the whole classroom, whatever the creative route they choose, make sure they are enjoying and at the same time getting inspired to protect the beauty of nature this earth provides to every single living being.

6. Replay the day

Earth Day is all about celebrating the beauty of our planet and learning how to take care of it. One way to commemorate the day is to play the day in your classroom with your Montessori students.

Try replicating an outdoor environment inside the classroom. Use elements such as leaves, rocks, soil, twigs, and other pieces of nature to create a mini eco-system. Ask the students to observe and take note of small things in nature, such as how plants get their water and nutrients, how the wind causes tree branches to move, or how insects interact with each other.

Point out different living organisms and explain how each one plays an essential role in the togetherness and balance of the ecosystem and the entire planet. Let the students explore and uncover the secrets of nature and gain a broader understanding of the environment we live in.

Earth is Our Home, let’s Protect Together:

There is no other better day to teach your students about nature and the environment other than Earth Day. As a Teacher, you can utilize this day to make it fun for your young learners and at the same time educational as well. Use this day as an opportunity to connect your students with nature and Earth by using some fun activities which have been mentioned by us above which bring out the creative side of students and at the same time, they will get inspired to protect their home which is Earth. Additionally, you can learn more fun and exciting teaching techniques like this to inspire and educate your young learners with our Montessori teacher training courses.

In the end, keep teaching and utilize this day well to inspire and educate your young learners to protect not just theirs but it’s every single living being home which is Earth.
 

Written By : Abhishek

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