Earth Day 2024 activities for schools
The National Literacy Trust, in partnership with REY Paper, has created a series of resources with an environmental focus to support learning this Earth Day.
Resources are suitable for teachers to use with pupils aged 4 to 14 (KS1, KS2 and KS3/P2-S3). Learning activities explore plastic pollution and improving planetary health, whilst developing key literacy skills through a sequence of exercises concluding with pupils creating their own environmental message that is important to them.
Download these free resources to help pupils to learn about plastic pollution and the importance of protecting the environment whilst exploring how they can take action.
What is Earth Day and when is it celebrated?
Earth Day is an annual celebration that honours the achievements of the largest environmental movement and raises awareness of the need to protect Earth’s natural resources for future generations. This year, Earth Day is taking place on Monday 22 April and follows the theme Planet vs Plastics.
We recommend marking the moment in the school week (Monday 22 April to Friday 26 April) celebrating Earth Day on the Monday and continuing throughout the week enabling pupils to share their learning with their communities, family and friends.
Earth Day classroom resources for pupils aged 4 to 14 (KS1, KS2, KS3)
Explore and celebrate Earth Day through our classroom sessions. Pupils will have the opportunity to explore the issue of plastic pollution through reading, discussion and creative activities, culminating in crafting their own climate message.
We have provided two 45 minute cross-curricular and literacy sessions for primary (KS1 and KS2) and a one-hour session for lower secondary (KS3) alongside a booklist inspired by the official Earth Day theme.
You will find all you need in the downloads.
- Teacher guide for pupils aged 5 to 7 (KS1/P2-P3)
- Teacher guide for pupils aged 7 to 11 (KS2/P4-P7)
- Teacher guide for pupils aged 11 to 14 (KS3/S1-S3)
- A booklist suitable for pupils aged 5 to 14 (KS1-KS3/P2 -S3)
All activities are closely linked to the English curricula across the UK.
More resources
- Explore our hot topic: Greta Thunberg and the climate emergency
- Initiate exporation of global goals in the early years through our resource: Talking to Young Children about The Global Goals
- Dive into stories exploring climate and the environment in the Caring for the Planet selection in our Young Readers booklists
