CCD classroom activities can teach children how to care for the earth that God gave them.

Children and teens are naturally tree huggers. Full of hope and optimism, they truly believe their generation can save the world.

Religious education teachers can use this positive spirit by giving students resources for Earth Day and every day.

When teaching children about creation, you have the opportunity to tell your students that God gave them the authority and the responsibility to care for the earth.

Here are some classroom activities for teaching children to protect and care for the earth.

Speaking for the Earth

The Institute for Peace and Justice has a curriculum for protecting the environment, with ideas for teaching various age groups.

Speaking for the Earth is an activity well served for religious education classes from second grade up to junior high level.

Before you begin the activity, have a class discussion about all the things that make up the earth – plants, animals, insects, sea life, mountains, rain forests and bodies of water.

Give each student a handout that contains these questions and fill-in-the-blanks:

• I speak for the __________

(Name the animal, plant, or other part of the earth family that you especially love and want to protect.)

• What it’s like to be me: ______________

(Describe your size and shape, how you move, how you sound or smell or feel.)

• What some people have done to me: ___________________

(Describe how people have misused or hurt you.)

• Why I’m so special: ____________________

(What is it that people love about you? How do you make life better for humans?)

• How I want you to treat me from now on: ______________________

(Tell the humans how you want them to treat you; be specific.)

• Others respond: “We hear you _______. We are sorry for what we have done to you and promise to treat you more carefully from now on.”

Have each child fill in the sheet with the part of the earth they’ve chosen to represent. At prayer time, each child reads his sheet, taking the role of what he’s chosen, speaking in the first person.

Current environmental events

Give your class a stack of newspapers and have them find news about global warming, pollution, recycling efforts, alternative fuels, and other environmental issues.

Have students share with the class what they’ve found. Talk about what environmental problem was addressed and what, if anything, they personally can do to help the problem.

Make bird feeders

Suite 101’s Kids Activities has instructions for making simple bird feeders using an orange, a milk carton or a pine cone.

Plant trees

The Arbor Day Foundation and other organizations offer free tree seedlings at various times of the year. Lead your class on a tree planting expedition.

Teach kids to reuse

Of the three environmental R’s – reuse, reduce and recycle – reusing household items packs a punch because it means a reduction in the production of new items.

A good lesson in reusing is a jelly jar contest. Give each child a jelly jar, a plastic margarine container or other food container that’s been well washed. Tell them to come up with ways to reuse the container and bring it back in a week showing how it’s being used. (The students may choose to use a jelly jar as a drinking glass, a pencil holder or a flower vase. A plastic margarine container may be used to hold hair bands, as a jewelry box or to store a rock collection.)

Brainstorm ways to help the earth

Lead a class discussion on how we can make an impact on the environment. Starting with waking up and getting out of bed, go through a typical day and think of ways they can be more environmentally friendly (drink tap water instead of bottled water, put the cereal box in the recycling bin instead of the garbage, turn off lights, walk to school instead of asking Mom for a ride, pick up litter on your way home, etc.) Write their ideas on a large poster board.