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ARBOR DAY QUICK STARTS
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Hug a tree today. |
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Plant a tree. |
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Collect acorns or pinecones. |
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Tie ribbons on tree branches to catch the wind. |
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Measure the circumference of a tree. |
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Stand tall like a tree, bend sideways like a tree. |
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Look for nests in trees. |
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Place red circle stickers on a tree shape to make an apple tree. |
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Look for other animals besides birds that live in trees. |
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Play circle games around a tree. |
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| DECORATING SPRING TREES |
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Cut out a bare tree shape from brown construction paper. |
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Have your child glue the shape onto a piece of white or blue paper. |
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Cut out small flower shapes, from tissue paper or construction paper. |
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Have your child glue the flower blossoms onto the top of their tree shape.
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TREE RUBBINGS
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Give your child pieces of white paper and some unwrapped crayons. |
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Go for a walk and look for trees with interesting bark. |
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Show your child how to lay their paper onto the bark of the tree, then rub across it with the side of their crayon, leaving a rubbing of the bark. |
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TREE COLLAGE
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Have your child look through old magazines and gardening catalogs to find pictures of trees. |
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Then, have her tear or cut out the pictures. |
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Give your child a piece of paper and some glue and have her glue the trees onto the paper, overlapping the trees and covering the paper. |
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LEAVE SORT
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Go on a walk with your child and collect four leaves from four to six different kinds of trees. |
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Mix up the leaves and have your child sort the leaves into like piles. |
| Extension: Look in books to identify each tree’s leaves. |
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TREE SORT
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Make up some tree cards by gluing pictures of trees onto small index cards. |
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Mix up the cards and have your child sort the trees into two piles. One for evergreen trees and one for deciduous trees. |
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TREE RACE
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Have a race with your child using a tree across the yard as the goal. |
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Or have a relay race with a group of children, with a tree as your goal. |
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THE GIVING TREE
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Read the story “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein. |
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Then play a game with your child by taking turns to see who can name the most good things that trees do for us. |
NOTE: Look under Arbor Tree Science for a list of Good Things About Trees.
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TREE STORIES
Look for tree stories at the Story Station.
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The Surprise Tree |
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The Cactus Inn |
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Ellie The Evergreen |
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CHILDREN’S STORIES
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Have your children make up their own tree stories. |
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Write down their stories as they tell them. |
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Have them later draw a picture for their story. |
| Note: Younger children may want to do picture first and then tell you a story about their picture. |
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GOOD THINGS ABOUT TREES
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Trees keep us cool with their shade. |
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Trees provide us with wood for building homes, furniture, toys, etc. |
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Trees give us wood to build cooking and heating fires. |
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Trees give us food, such as nuts and fruit. |
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Trees give us paper products. |
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Trees give us flowers. |
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Trees enrich our air. Their leaves take in carbon dioxide and give out oxygen. |
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Trees help purify our air by catching tiny particles of dust and other pollutants. |
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Trees protect us from wind, rain and snow. |
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Trees hold moisture in the ground. |
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Trees hold dirt in place. They prevent dirt slides.
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PLANT A TREE
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Let your child help you plant a tree on Arbor Day. |
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Visit the National Arbor Day Foundation’s website www.arborday.org to find out more information about when Arbor Day is celebrated in your state. |
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You can also order small saplings to plant in your area. |
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Encourage your child to learn more about trees they have planted and how to care for them. |
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SAVE A TREE
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Discuss with your children all the paper products we make from paper. |
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Show her how when we recycle these products we make it possible for less trees to be cut down for this purpose and therefore more trees are available to help us in other ways. |
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TREE SNACKS
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Nuts, pine nuts, coconuts |
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Apples, oranges, bananas, mangos – make a fruit salad. |
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Cinnamon treats – (comes from tree bark) |
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Cocoa – (comes from coco beans from a tree) |
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BAKED GOODIES
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Nut bread |
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Cinnamon rolls |
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Coconut cookies |
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TODAY IS ARBOR DAY
Tune: “The Farmer In The Dell”
Today is Arbor Day.
We plant the trees this way.
Heigh ho, we hope they grow.
Today is Arbor Day.
Today is Arbor Day.
The trees all bend and say,
“We’d like a hug, nice and snug.”
Today is Arbor Day.
Jean Warren
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HUG A TREE TODAY
Why not hug a tree today
Or pat it on its bark?
Give a tree a great big squeeze
At home or in the park.
Find the tree you like the best
And stand beneath its shade.
Stretch your arms around its trunk
And hug until you fade.
Imagine the birds that have lived in your tree,
Imagine the squirrel in its nest.
A tree is a home to all that come,
The perfect place to rest.
So put your arms around your tree.
Whether it’s short or tall.
Hug your tree – you’ll feel so good,
Winter, spring, summer or fall.
Susan Paprocki
© Warren Publishing House
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TREES
Elm trees stretch and stretch so wide. (Hold arms out at sides.)
Their limbs reach out on every side.
Pine trees stretch and stretch so high. (Hold arms up high)
They nearly reach up to the sky.
Willows droop and droop so low. (Bend over and lower arms)
Their branches sweep the ground below.
Author Unknown
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FOR ADDITIONAL ARBOR DAY ACTIVITIES – See the Tree unit at the Theme Station.
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