Celebrate Earth, the color green, the environment, recycling, and all things about keeping the Earth healthy using these exciting Earth Day writing activities.
Writing is a lifelong skill that students will use in every aspect of their lives.
That’s why as educators, it’s important that we integrate writing into every subject area as best as possible. It’s also helpful to integrate writing across themes.
These Earth Day writing activities do just that.
Not only do these activities sharpen writing skills, but they also prompt students to reflect upon the ways in which we care for the Earth.
Using these fun Earth Day writing activities, students will understand how they can contribute to keeping Earth safe and healthy for all of its citizens.
Earth Day Writing Activities
1. Interpret an Earth Day Quote.
The first Earth Day writing activity motivates students to think critically.
Give students a quote about Earth Day, and ask them to interpret it. It’s interesting for students to hear others’ interpretations of the same quote.
Here are some Earth Day quote suggestions:
- “He that plants trees loves others besides himself.” – Thomas Fuller
- “The Earth is what we all have in common.” – Wendell Berry
- “A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
- “Time spent among trees is never time wasted.” – Anonymous
2. Give Examples and Non-Examples of Caring for Earth.
This writing activity helps students to visualize two different groups of something.
Provide students with this Examples and Non-Examples T-chart. They will describe examples and non-examples of what it means to take care of the earth.
For example, recycling plastic and paper products would be an example of taking care of the earth.
A non-example would be throwing litter out of the car window.
3. Sketch and Label Earth.
This writing activity can easily be differentiated depending on the age of your students.
For younger students, give them a simple picture of the earth to color and label.
For older students, have them label plus caption the different layers of the Earth. They may even write a descriptive paragraph about the illustration or drawing.
4. Make a “Green” Guide.
This fun writing activity develops students’ creativity and critical thinking skills.
Students write a “green” guide targeted to students their age, providing tips for saving energy, eating well, and taking care of the environment.
Grab a “green” guide template here.
5. Write an Earth Day Essay.
Students write an informational essay about the importance of planting trees. They may need to first research facts about trees.
Download Earth Day writing paper.
6. Design an Earth Day Quilt.
If you’re looking to integrate art into some of your Earth Day writing activities, this project is for you.
Using a variety of writing prompts to spark discussion about environmental issues, students will combine art and writing to create a quilt display.
Grab the Earth Day Quilt activity.
7. Journal From a Tree’s Perspective.
For this activity, students imagine that they are a tree and write a diary entry from its viewpoint.
From a tree’s perspective, they think,
- “How are humans treating me?”
- “How do I feel?”
8. Design an Earth Day Bumper Sticker.
Students design a bumper sticker to advertise Earth Day. They must think about its motto, symbols, and colors.
Consider showing students examples of student-friendly bumper stickers (via Google Images)before assigning this activity.
9. Generate a List of Questions for An Environmentalist.
Students pretend that they are going to interview an environmentalist or scientist about the Earth.
They must generate a list of 5 to 10 questions that they would ask. They’ll also write responses of how they think the scientist or environmentalist would answer.
10. Answer Earth Day Writing Prompts.
One of the simplest Earth Day writing activities is Earth Day writing prompts.
What’s great about Earth Day writing prompts is that no matter what writing genre you want students to focus on, there is a prompt to address that learning objective.
11. Describe a Healthy Earth.
This activity focuses on helping students practice their descriptive writing skills.
Students describe what a healthy earth looks, smells, sounds, and feels like.
12. Make a Chart or Graph.
Older students will use their data analysis skills for this writing activity.
First, they conduct research on a topic related to Earth Day.
Afterwards, they create, label, and/or caption a chart/graph that informs about some aspect of Earth Day.
It might be a graph that shows recycling statistics or a pie chart that shows information about polluted waters.
Finally, they present their chart or graph to a classmate or the class.
13. Write a Speech.
Students write a speech to the student body, persuading peers to volunteer next weekend to pick up trash at the local park.
14. Draft a Letter.
Students draft a letter to a local politician, asking her to start a recycling campaign in the local community because of excessive waste.
It’s important that students highlight the benefits of doing so.
15. Do a Thought Bubble Activity.
Provide students with this Thought Bubble template.
Now they have to get into the mindset of Earth, writing a message that they feel Earth wants humankind to know.
What is the earth thinking about how we’re treating it?
16. Write a News Article About Earth Day.
Students write a news article about Earth Day, informing citizens about how they can take better care of the earth so that it’s habitable for future generations.
Final Thoughts: Earth Day Writing Activities
Using these delightful Earth Day writing activities, students’ writing skills will strengthen and their awareness of taking care of the earth will heighten.