Earth Heroes: A Kindergarten Earth Day Project

Inside: Learn more about this kindergarten Earth Day project, where we took a virtual field trip to Earth Academy, participated in a “top secret” training, completed 10 learning tasks and became Earth Superheroes.

How This Earth Day Project Came to Be

A little girl came in one March day and said, “I saved a worm.”

I asked her how she did that and she replied, “I moved it from the sidewalk to the grass, so no one would step on it.”

“You are an Earth Hero,” I told her.

Of course, you know how kindergarten goes, then all of the kids wanted to be “Earth Heroes,” and began sharing tales of how they too had “saved animals.”

With Earth Day just around the corner, I knew I could use this as a springboard for some kind of Earth Hero project. At the time, even though I was in the classroom, many teachers were still virtual and I had been writing virtual events and field trips that they could use from a distance. So I sat down that weekend and created a Virtual Field Trip to Earth Academy.

Here’s how I used that project in our kindergarten classroom that year!

Earth Heroes: A Kindergarten Earth Day Project

Step 1: Unlock the Secret Training

In order to show that they were worthy of becoming Earth Heroes, the kids had to first “unlock” the top secret training by showing their love for the Earth.

We did this with a simple share, where I passed around an Earth ball and each child named one thing they loved about our planet.

Step 2: Complete 10 Learning Tasks

Next, they had to complete 10 environmental learning tasks that included learning about living things, endangered animals, trees, garbage, zero-waste lunches, energy, pollution, and water. We did those over a period of days using resources such as videos, books, and songs.

Most were just simple viewing and reflection experiences, but others included an activity such as making these pollution catchers.

The last 2 tasks involved choosing an Earth Hero name and “super power.”

And creating a shield, cuffs (from paper tubes) and cape by upcycling an old t-shirt.

A really great book to pair with these last two steps is Old Enough to Save the Planet by Loll Kirby. This wonderful book shares simple, real-life examples of children around the world who have taken action to make the world a better place.

Step 3: Earth Academy Graduation Celebration

We then put on our costumes, took the Earth Hero pledge and “graduated” from Earth Academy.

We celebrated with a snack, a game of Earth Hero Says, and singing the song, We’ve Got the Whole World in Our Hands.

We also made these posters to remind us that Earth is our one and only home.

Reflections on this Kindergarten Earth Day Project

Projects like this might seem like a big investment in time. But for me, if I just break down the steps into bite-sized experiences, I can easily find ways to fit them into our day.

Many of the learning tasks were completed during snack, as children were able to view the material and participate in a conversation as they ate. And creating the shield, cuffs, and capes, as well as the graduation, were all done on two Friday afternoons, that I set aside for this special project.

And since this project wasn’t just about learning content, but on raising awareness, it seemed a very good use of our learning time!

I’m sure you can also guess that the engagement was super high, as it is with most projects, and at the end of it all, I felt we had all really gone “somewhere” on our virtual field trip!

If you are interested in doing this project with your kids, you will find all the learning tasks and printables shown above in the Earth Academy Virtual Field Trip Resource. It is suitable for grades K-2.

For more Earth Day ideas, check out 5 Earth Day Projects for Kindergarten.