Earth Day 2025 Teaching Resources
Teach your primary students about Earth Day in 2025 with printables, worksheets, activities, crafts and more about being kind to planet Earth and the importance of sustainability.
This collection of teacher-created resources for maths and science teachers and other primary subjects touches on a variety of eco-friendly themes, including sustainability, environmental impact and recycling. Most resources are curriculum-aligned and editable so you can differentiate work for individual students, and each has undergone rigorous review by an expert teacher on the Teach Starter team.
Teaching Earth Day for the first time this year, or need a quick guide to the 2025 holiday? Read on for tips from our teacher team!
When Is Earth Day 2025?
Earth Day is held on the same date each year, which means this year, the holiday will be on the 22nd of April 2025. This is a Tuesday.
What Is the Theme of Earth Day 2025?
Following the Earth Day theme — chosen annually by EarthDay.org — can help you focus your lesson planning to save time and have the greatest impact on your students.
The 2025 theme is Our Power, Our Planet, opening the door to talk about renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal and tidal, to generate clean electricity for everyone.
How Do You Explain Earth Day to a Child?
Depending on the year level you are teaching this school year, explaining the state of our planet can be a challenge. So how do you touch on the importance of being green and sustainability in kid-friendly ways?
First, you may want to consider why it's so important that our students learn about Earth Day in the first place. Earth Day is an important opportunity for children to learn about the environment, the importance of conservation and sustainability, and to understand their role as active citizens.
Among the issues that kids are learning when you teach about Earth Day in the classroom:
- Environmental education: Learning about Earth Day helps students understand the importance of protecting the environment and preserving natural resources for future generations.
- Climate change: Understanding the impacts of climate change and how to reduce carbon footprint can be started in elementary school and have a real impact as kids grow up
- Active citizenship: Children learning about Earth Day are learning about how they can make a difference in their own community, such as recycling, conserving energy, and protecting endangered species.
- Interdependence: Learning about Earth Day also helps children understand that everything in the world is interconnected and how our actions can have a direct impact on the planet.
- Encouraging curiosity and creativity: Earth Day promotes curiosity and creativity in children, leading them to want to explore and learn more about the world around them.
What Can Students Do on Earth Day?
This collection is full of activities you can use with your students this Earth Day, and here are some things primary schools can do to mark this important annual event:
- Get Planting at School — If you don't already have one, you might use Earth Day as an excuse to create a school garden and teach your class about the benefits of planting fresh plants, flowers and trees.
- Clean-Up Litter Around the Community — Organise a clean-up event to pick up litter in the school's community.
- Amp Up Recycling Efforts — Encourage your students to do more to keep rubbish out of landfills by setting up recycling stations around the school or in your classroom.
- Conserve Energy — You may be fresh off of Earth Hour, but you can still educate students about energy conservation and encourage them to turn off lights and unplug electronics when they're not in use.
- Enjoy Nature — Organise a nature walk around the school or in a nearby park. Your class can learn about different types of plants and animals while they enjoy fresh air.
- Bring in a Guest — Invite an expert to speak to the class about environmental issues and what kids can do to help.
- Get Creative With Reuse — Your class can make artwork using recycled materials and learn about how these items can be transformed into something new and beautiful.
- Experiment — Conduct a science experiment in your science classes related to an environmental issue, and learn about how we can make a difference.
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Amazon Rainforest Facts - Reading Passage
Read and learn about conservation with a reading passage and comprehension worksheet on the Amazon Rainforest.
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Comprehension Worksheets - The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Read to learn about the Great Pacific Garbage patch with a printable reading comprehension worksheet pack.
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What Are Natural Resources? PowerPoint
A teaching presentation that explores what natural resources are and where they come from.
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Sustainability Activity - Caring for the Environment
Promote sustainable living with a sustainability sorting activity.
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Water Overuse – Infographic Poster and Worksheet
Explore the overuse of water and its effects on the world’s population with this eye-opening infographic poster and accompanying comprehension worksheet.
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Overfishing – Infographic Poster and Worksheet
Explore overfishing and its effects on marine environments with this eye-opening infographic poster and accompanying comprehension worksheet.
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Ecological Footprint Draw and Write
Help your students be more eco-conscious by having them complete a carbon footprint worksheet.
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Water is Life - Instructional PowerPoint
Learn about the importance of water to life on Earth, along with where water comes from, with an instructional slide deck.
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Deforestation – Infographic Poster and Worksheet
Read and learn about deforestation with an engaging infographic and comprehension worksheet.
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How Can We Help Our Planet Mini Book
Help your students learn about how to keep our planet clean with a printable Earth Day book.
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Where Do Natural Resources Come From? Worksheet
Discover where Earth's natural resources are located with a pair of differentiated Natural Resource Worksheets.
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How is Plastic Recycled? – Recycling Worksheets
Explore the process of recycling plastic with a printable recycling worksheet.
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My Ecological Footprint - Reference Sheet
Teach your students about the things we do that affect the Earth with an ecological footprint reference sheet.
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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rethink and Repair Posters
Explain the concepts behind reducing, reusing, recycling, rethinking and repairing waste with a set of printable sustainability posters.
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Recycling Posters - Printable Recycling Bin Labels
Teach your students how to recycle in the classroom with labelled recycling bins!
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Student Lunch Box Audit - Reducing Waste Project
An investigation that will have students calculating the waste produced from their lunch boxes, creating a plan of action to reduce their waste and reflecting on their results.
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Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint – Poster and Worksheet
Explore how to reduce your carbon footprint with this poster and accompanying comprehension worksheet.
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The Recycling Process Poster
Show your students the process materials go through when they are recycled with printable recycling posters.
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Happy Earth Day Colouring Pages
Give your students these fun Earth Day colouring sheets to promote sustainability and conservation.
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What Can We Recycle? Cut and Paste Worksheet
Remember what to recycle with a cut-and-paste worksheet.
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National Tree Day – Environment Word Search
Print a word search to use on National Tree Day or Earth Day to help your students learn about conservation.
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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Flipbooks
Display different ways to conserve resources with a set of handy recycling–based foldable interactive notebook templates.
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Save Planet Earth - Science Word Wall Vocabulary
Print and display Earth Day-related terms in your classroom to improve vocabulary and discussion about Earth Day.
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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rethink and Repair - Brainstorming Sheets
Brainstorm All the Ways to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle with a pack of printable brainstorming worksheets.