Earth Day is just around the corner. It is celebrated on the 22nd of April every year. Today, I have a short post on some Earth Day soil activities you can do with kids. Soil is the most important resource on our organic farm. If we have healthy, living soils, our plants can grow healthy without synthetic chemicals. Healthy plants also in turn into healthy feed for our animals.
I had originally planned to do a post on composting activities. But since our yard looks like this:
…it is really hard to do composting activities. I had this great idea to compare our house compost with our cow manure compost. It really would have been great! But I digress.
Earth Day Soil Activities for Kids
What is soil? And Why is it important?
To start our lesson I had my boys watch a short video on soil (since we cannot actually play in it right now).
I was unable to find a version to embed, so please click on the link or photo to access the website with the video.
Next, we read the book Dirt, The Scoop on Soil by Natalie M. Rosinsky.
I like this book for elementary and preschool students because it simplifies what soil is, what it is made of, different types of soil, why soil is important, and how we can protect soil. If you live in Minnesota, this book should be at your local library.
After reading the book the boys worked on Food Grows in Soil worksheets from National Association of Conservation Districts. The kindergarten worksheet focuses on soil sequences.
Who says soil is boring?
To get the boys moving and shaking, I found “The Topsoil Dance” song on youtube. CAUTION it is an ear-worm!
Soil is not Dirt!
Since Mother Nature has put a damper on our soil fun. I will leave you some links to kid friendly soil experiments and activities on my Farm Learning Activities Pinterest Board.
How will you be celebrating Earth Day? If you have some great links to kid friendly activities, please share them in the comments and I will add them to my Pinterest Board.
Happy Earth Day!
~Emily
