World Earth Day
By Kathryn Beaney
World Earth Day is about making changes to help our planet. One big issue at the
moment is the amount of plastic waste we have. We can all reduce our plastic waste and
it is important that we work with our parents and our children to educate them about the
effect of plastic waste on our planet and how we can all do our little bit to help.
Start by washing all of the plastic waste you produce at nursery and from the children’s
lunch boxes and make a big pile in reception, this is a great visual way to show the amount
of waste being produced.
Include the children in deciding which waste is made from plastic and let them help with
the washing.
Discuss the idea - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce - Discuss ways we can reduce plastic such as by using re-usable water bottles.
Reuse – Use some of the plastic waste from your pile for activities such as using yogurt pots
to grow seeds.
Recycle – Introduce re-cycling bins in your classroom for paper and plastic.
Think about the effect of plastic in our oceans by setting up a water tray, place sea animals
inside and let the children play with the animals, then start adding in some plastic and talk
about how this affects the animals and how the animals might feel with all of this plastic in
their living space. Float some boats on the top with people in and discuss whether they
would like to be on a boat ride and see all of the waste. This is a great hands-on activity to
promote further discussion and understanding.
Have a look on the web, you can find many activities and songs that relate to World Earth
Day.