Fun Ways to Get Kids Involved in Arbor Day

It is never too early to teach kids about the importance of planting and conserving trees. If you haven’t already, this Arbor Day observed on the last Friday of each April (this year Arbor Day is on April 24th), is a perfect time to start. It’s a great way for your kids or grandkids to learn about the importance of tree conservation, to spend quality time together and to have some fun at the same time!

Do you know, there is 9,550-year-old Spruce tree that currently exists in Sweden on Fulufjallet Mountain? Trees are the longest living things on earth; invariably a valuable investment in our own future and those of our children. So Arbor Day is probably the most meaningful observance you can celebrate with your children and grandchildren.

What is Arbor Day?

The first reports of Arbor Day date back to 1805. In Villanueva de la Sierra, a village in Spain, a local priest “convinced of importance of trees for health, hygiene, decoration, nature, environment and customs” decided to plant trees and give a festive air to the place on Carnival Day.

The origin of Arbor Day the United States dates back to 1872 when the efforts of J Sterling Morton resulted about a million trees being planted in Nebraska. In 1906 conservationist Major Israel McCreight convinced President Roosevelt to make a public statement to school children about trees and the destruction of American forests and a year later, Roosevelt issued an Arbor Day proclamation.

In 1972, The Arbor Day Foundation, a nonprofit conservation and education organization was founded “to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees”. Today the foundation has programs such as Nature Explore and Tree Campus USA to help parents, caregivers and teachers connect children to nature and to engage student bodies in the process of conservation.

Fun Arbor Day Activities for Kids

Actually Plant Trees

Plant a tree! (Image via Nature Conservancy)

You could buy saplings from a local nursery or transplant saplings you have nurtured yourself. Pick tree species that are suitable for the climate and topography of the place you live. Find suitable sites where a tree is able to flourish. Get kids to help with the digging and transplanting and watering; then have them look after the tree or trees, check their progress regularly or each time they visit. This is will educate a child about the process of growth and teach them to value trees.

An Arbor Day Ramble

Identify trees, go tree-spotting (Image via Tiny Trees)

The weather is great for a ramble in the woods or a park. While you’re spending quality time with your child or grandchild, point out different trees, tell them a bit about them, collect different types of tree leaves and encourage them to make a scrap book out of those.

Arbor Day Printables

Coloring is a simple, fun activity for smaller kids: simply print out these Arbor Day coloring sheets and get kids involved in some creative coloring. Slightly older kids can enjoy this Arbor Day alphabetical order worksheet where they arrange words like evergreen, oak, willow, plant etc in the right order. There are more Arbor Day worksheets that you can print out to increase awareness: jumble worksheet, word search challenge and so on.

Arbor Day Crafts

Print out coloring worksheets (Image via here)

These fun Arbor Day Crafts on Pinterest are easy to organize and will really engage kids: a tree collage, paintings created with kids’ hands, egg carton trees, the toilet paper tree and much more. Get kids to make stuff which you can then proudly display around the house!

Recycled Crafts

Older kids will enjoy crafts projects involving waste or recyclable items. This drives home an important point of conservation, recycling and sustainability and is fun at the same time: items made from discarded cardboard cartons, plastic bottles, old newspapers, used straws, egg carts and much more.

Our special promotion for Arbor Day

Help us make a positive and green impact!

To celebrate Arbor Day we are offering a special promotion: our 12% Off Ink & Toner Purchase & One Tree Donation (use Coupon Code “EDAY”) is on from 04/20/2015 to 04/27/2015. Each time you make a purchase during this period, you get 12% off and we at TomatoInk will be donating a tree to be planted to the Arbor Day Foundation for each purchase made.

If you have any additional information or ideas about Arbor Day celebrations, we’d love to hear about them in the comments below.